


It's Not Hell (It's Purgatory)

by FloingMachines



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Dont worry champ and waverly break up, Eventual Smut, F/F, First Time, High School AU, Wayhaught - Freeform, no supernatural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-07-16 11:10:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7265779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloingMachines/pseuds/FloingMachines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU:<br/>Nicole moves into town and Waverly just might be crushing on her</p><p>(Don't worry Champ and Waverly break up)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            “High school is _hell_.” Wynonna kicked her feet up onto the boots of the dashboard of Waverly’s car.

            “It’s called Purgatory High. What’d you expect?” Waverly asked, both hands on the steering wheel. “Can you take your feet off the dashboard please? This isn’t your car.”

            “It used to be.”

            “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you got a DUI and lost your license so now I’m driving it. You’re getting driven to school by your little sister.”

            “Shut up, Waves. It doesn’t help that you’re taking higher level classes than me too, so there’s no need to rub it in. ‘Kay?”

            “Well someone’s snappy this morning.” Waverly responded as the car turned left. “You think we’re getting any new kids this year?”

            Wynonna laughed dryly. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Oh sorry I meant not a snowballs chance in _purgatory_.”

            “No need to be a wise ass.”

            They sat in silence a little longer as they drove through the small town. There was the town bar and a couple restaurants and a Starbucks just past the high school where she worked. The high school was a large grey building with bars over the windows and it loomed. On one hand it represented the town’s youth and the future, but on the other hand it represented everything Waverly despised and how bad she just wanted to leave this town and this place and never come back.

            She felt like she’d never work up the nerve to do it though. Wynonna would just get up and walk out the second after she received her diploma and never look back. However, she would still feel these odd ties to the town and she would stay and she would be stuck. It would be her fault, too.

            “Waves!” Wynonna grabbed the handle on the ceiling of the car. “Jesus Christ! You almost missed the turn! Is there anyone home?”

            “Fuck, sorry.” She turned into the school parking lot. “I was just thinking.”

            “Thinking about what?” Wynonna asked angrily as she parallel parked and turned off the ignition.

            “Stuff.” They both stepped out of the car and walked into the school. People were roaming the halls and they turned their separate ways.

            “Don’t forget to drive me home!” Wynonna called as Waverly began searching for her first class.

            She was taking an advanced English course in her junior year, she was trying to get ahead and making take some testing that would give her credit in college. Everyone told her that the class wasn’t necessary and that she should take something about science, not dead literature, but she wasn’t about to prove them right. She found the class without a problem and noticed that she was the first one there.

            She picked one of the desks in the second row and began to unload books from her bag. The room was completely empty, save for the furniture and she enjoyed the quiet and isolation of the classroom.

            The door swung open and she looked up, expecting to see the teacher, but instead saw a tall redhead who was quite clearly lost.

            “Is this the advanced placement European literature class?” The girl frowned and looked at her schedule again.

            “It is.” Waverly looked around. “Seems we’re the only ones here.”

            The taller girl smiled and then moved towards the empty desk next to Waverly. “Can I sit here?”

            “There’s nothing saying you can’t.”

            The other girl was pretty, that much was clearly. Her red hair was pulled into a braid and she was wearing a flannel shirt with it. She was _new_ , someone new was at the school and she was taken aback by her presence in a sense. This was _change_ and she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about it.

            “I’m Nicole.” She said, also unloading her bag on the desk. “I moved her two weeks ago, although I think people hardly noticed.”

            “I’m Waverly.” She stuck out her hand and Nicole shook it.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Waverly.” Nicole smiled and Waverly returned the smile equally, before leaning over to peek at her schedule.

            “What other classes are you taking?” She asked.

            “Oh, uh,” She looked at the schedule, a nervous blush crossing her face. “I’m taking forensics, some math class, and chemistry I think.”

            “What time do you have forensics? I’m taking that too.” Waverly picked up her schedule and compared it to Nicole’s.

            Their faces were close and she wasn’t exactly sure why she was so fixated on this. She had been close to people before, she was usually closer to Champ’s face than she usually wanted to be, but it somehow seemed more important that she could see the other girl’s eyelashes and nervous eyes flicking over the schedule.

            “I think we have forensics together.” Nicole said.

            “What?” Waverly snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the other girl. “Sorry, sorry, I was zoning out for a second. What did you say?”

            “I, I think we have forensics together.” Nicole said, smiling.

            People began to filter in the classroom. Waverly knew some of them, but some of them were Wynonna’s friends, they were seniors. Well they weren’t her _friends_ , but they sure as hell knew Wynonna. Everyone knew Wynonna, but whether or not they actually liked her was a bit of a discrepancy. Most people _didn’t_ like Wynonna Earp.

            “I’ll see you then too.” Waverly said.

            The class passed (she was the only one who read the books, not surprising). She had a calculus class next and although she tended to struggle in math sometimes, she felt surprisingly okay with it.

            When she walked into the forensics room, Nicole was already sitting at one of the tables. Their eyes met and Waverly smiled and blushed and ducked her head awkwardly as she sat down next to her.

            “English was intense.” Nicole laughed. “I can’t believe you’re the only one who did the reading.”

            “You get a pass ‘cause you didn’t know.” Waverly nudged her shoulder.

            “Thank you, I’m glad I have your blessing.” Nicole joked.

            “How was your other class?”

            “It was good, although I don’t like chemistry that much.”

            They sat in silence as the rest of the class filed in. The class passed quickly and they all filtered out for lunch.

            “Can I sit with you at lunch?” Waverly turned around as she was opening her locker and then looked to her right and saw Nicole opening her locker. “I don’t mean to be too direct or anything, but I don’t really know anyone else…”

            “No it’s fine, I just don’t know if you can stand my sister.”

            “Your sister?”           

            “Wynonna? Wynonna Earp? You’re lucky, you don’t know her yet.” Waverly laughed a little. “Most people are on somewhat…begrudging terms with my older sister. Let’s just say that.”

            Nicole smiled. “I’m sure I can handle her.”

            Waverly felt arms around her and a self assured laugh. Her shoulders tensed up as a kiss was placed on her cheek.

            “How’s my pretty girl?”

            She was regrettably dating Champ. He was stuck up and on the football team and admittedly he was almost unbearable, but it was a miracle anyone had noticed her so she agreed to go out with him.

            He was much taller than her with muscle and gelled brown hair, but she knew how much work he had to put in to stop the muscle from turning to fat from the amount of alcohol he consumed at parties. He was a jerk, but he was her boyfriend and that meant she had to put up with his shit.

            “Hey Champ.” She mumbled and shook out of his grip.

            “How’s your first day?” He asked taking her hand and then looking at Nicole. “Who’s this?”

            “It’s Nicole, she moved her.” He let go of her hands and shrugged.

            “Yeah I heard, someone moved here. Wild. Anyways, I’ll see you later.” He sauntered off.

            “I’m sorry about that.” Waverly apologized and started down the hallway with Nicole.

            “Who is that?”

            “It’s Champ Hardy.” She sighed. “Asshole.”

            “He seems to like you.”

            “Well.” She brushed it off a little. “I don’t know if I could say the same.”

            Nicole fell silent for a second. “You’re together because it’s convenient.”

            “Yeah.”

            “I know what that feels like, I had to break it off with a similar situation when I moved here…I don’t regret it.”

            Waverly shrugged and tucked her brown hair behind her ears. They walked at an even pace, despite Nicole being much taller than she was. She was athletic for sure, but she couldn’t tell what exactly she played. She found herself almost staring at her, trying to find out more, but quickly tore her gaze away as they entered the cafeteria.

            “Hey!” Waverly called as she saw Wynonna sitting at one of the tables. Wynonna waved back and she sat down next to her. Nicole sat on the other side of Waverly.

            “Two detentions on the first day!” Wynonna made her hand into a fist and held it out to Waverly. She returned the gesture hesitantly, still not sure why that was a good thing. “You’ve still never gotten a detention.” She quipped.

            “I don’t plan to get one.”

            “Who’s this?” Wynonna peered at Nicole and then kicked her boots up onto the table.

            “Oh, uh, I’m Nicole. I’m new here, I have some classes with your sister.”

            “Cool so you’re just another goody two shoes.”

            “Wynonna!” Waverly smacked her sister’s arm.  

            “What? It’s the truth if she knows _you_.”

            Lunch passed and Waverly hurried to her next class, saying goodbye to Nicole as she left.

            “Who’s the redhead?” Wynonna ran up next to her as she left the school. “Where’s she from? How do you know her? What classes do you have with her? Why are you showing any damn interest in her?”

            “Jeez, Wynonna. She just seems nice. It’s not a crime to actually _befriend_ people.”

            They made it to their little sedan and then she glanced up and saw Nicole walking towards her car. Quickly she ripped a piece of paper out of her bag and scribbled her number on it before sprinting over to her car.

            “Nicole!”

            She looked up and smiled. “Hey, Waverly.”

            “Look, here’s my number in case you need anything.” Waverly pressed the paper in her hand.

            “Thank you.” Nicole smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            Wynonna squinted and shook her head at her as she walked back to the car.

            _I’ll see you tomorrow_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for supporting this! This is my first time writing Wayhaught so feedback is super appreciated. Just letting you guys know, my updating schedule is on summer schedule, which is where my updates have no timing to them, they just happen.  
> My Tumblr is machinerisms.tumblr.com if any of you are interested.  
> Again, thank you for the support!

            “Why’d you give her your number?” Wynonna asked as she pulled out of the school parking lot. “You barely know her, there’s no need to be so attached.”

            “She might need a friend.” Waverly maintained a grip on the steering wheel. “Besides, she seemed nice and I feel like I want to get to know her better.”

            “I heard that her dad is one of the new deputies in town.”

            “That’s nice.”

            “Hey, are you working tonight?”

            “Yeah I am.” Waverly answered without looking at her. She wasn’t quite sure why all of Wynonna’s questions about Nicole were bothering her this much, but they were. Either way she wanted Wynonna to knock it off. “Why?”

            “I was wondering if you could bring me back a Frappuccino. I don’t really care what, I just want it to be caffeinated and sugary.”

            “You have to start paying me or I’m going to get in trouble.” She scowled.

            “ _Fine_ I’ll pay you, but will you bring it back?”

            “Yeah, yeah whatever.” She continued to drive the car in silence.

            The small roads of the town were clogged with student cars as they drove home. She had four hours to complete her homework before she would drive to work and she didn’t expect the homework to take long. What she was more interested in was finding out more about Nicole and who she was.

            She couldn’t stop thinking about her though and it was driving her crazy. There was something intriguing about her and the way she pulled her in, or so it seemed.

            “Waverly.” Wynonna cut off her thoughts. “Waverly, jeez you keep zoning out. That girl – the redhead, she’s in my grade just letting you know.”

            “Really?” Waverly parked the car in front of her house and turned off the car. Wynonna stepped out and began walking up their front lawn towards the door. “How’d you know that?” She asked after running up to her older sister as they got closer to the house.

            “One of my friends told me, the whole school’s been talking about her nonstop.” Wynonna unlocked the front door and they let themselves in. Gus wasn’t home yet and Waverly guessed that their adopted mother wouldn’t be home until while she was at work and she’d see her for a late dinner.

            “Why’s everyone talking about her?”

            Wynonna crashed on the couch in their living room. A television was set up on a table next to the fireplace and Wynonna reached for the remote to turn it on. Waverly sat on the couch across from Wynonna and watched her sister. Her hair had been recently dyed dark reddish brown and she had taken on the look of classy biker almost, with tall boots and a leather jacket.

            Her sister had this remarkable ability to not care about anything or anyone it seemed, but she knew secretly she cared about something. Their mother had died before Waverly had the chance to know her and her dad died in a car accident. Both of them had an older sister once upon a time too, Willa, but she had been in the car with their father and had later died in the hospital. They were buried in the town cemetery. Waverly knew that Wynonna secretly care about her and Gus and their dead family, but it would take a miracle to open her up at this point.

            “Why do you care?”

            “I don’t know, I just want to find out more about her.”

            “Just lay off, Wave.” She said. “If you’re worried about her, don’t be. Bobo and the rest of his loser friends haven’t shown a speck of interest in her.” She sat up a little and looked at Waverly. “Speaking of losers, how’s Champ?”

            Waverly sighed. “He’s fine, I suppose.”

            “You need to break up with him.”

            She shrugged. “I will eventually it’s just…”

            “It’s just that he’s giving you even the slightest bit of affection and you’re taking it even if he just wants to dumb you down to arm candy.”

            “I told you I’ll do it eventually.”

            Wynonna blew some hair out of her eyes. “Whatever you say.”

            “Why don’t you just mind your own business?” Waverly stood up and picked up her backpack before going upstairs and locking the door to her room.

            She pulled out her computer from under her bed and powered it on. It had been a gift when she started high school and she planned to keep it as long as she could. As it powered on she checked her phone. No new texts. The computer turned on and she opened the Internet browser and pulled up the police department’s website and checked the list of on-duty officers.

            _James Haught._

            It was the only name she didn’t recognize and she studied his picture. His hair was the same color as Nicole’s and she decided that that had to be her father. She opened Facebook next and typed his name in. His profile came up and next to it came _Nicole Haught_.

            She clicked on Nicole’s and began scrolling through the posts. They were boring and there was nothing out of the ordinary, but she kept scrolling until she was about a year back in her history and then accidentally liked the post.

            “Fuck!” She quickly unliked the post and slammed the laptop closed. Her face was burning hot and then she realized the mistake she had made. _She would know that she had been slightly stalking her social media and this was a very big problem and oh dear, oh dear._ She sat there and clutched one of the pillows on her bed to her chest before her heart rate slowed down.

            “Okay.” She said to herself, trying to calm down. “Whatever, whatever. It’s okay.”

            _This has to be a sign from above that I need to do my damn homework._ Waverly thought. _Time to do my homework._ She pulled her books from her bag and her hands shook slightly as she began to work until the alarm on her phone went off at 4:30.

            She set down her nearly finished homework and changed into her work uniform before plodding down the stairs. Wynonna was sleeping on the couch and she sighed as she left and locked the front door behind her. She drove away from her house and out past the school and pulled into the back parking lot of the Starbucks.

            There was an employee entrance in the back and she scanned her ID before opening the door into the break room.

            A couple of her friends from work waved hello and she clocked into and started taking orders and making coffees for people. She was working until closing today and she’d be the last employee again, shutting down the place for the night.

            The night passed smoothly and as the crowd of people slowly dissipated as it neared 10 o’clock she began to clean up. Everyone had left now and she was just making one last drive through order before she closed up when the door to the inside café opened.

            “I’ll be right with you!” She called as she gave the man in the car his order and then shut the window.

            Nicole was standing in front of the register, her hands shoved in her pockets.

            “Hey!” She smiled and Nicole looked up and returned it.

            “Hi! I didn’t expect you to be here.” She smiled.

            “Yeah, you’re the last customer of the night it seems. What can I get you?”

            She ordered a cappuccino and as she walked over to start making it they entered a conversation. “You liked a year old post on my Facebook.” Nicole laughed and Waverly’s face turned bright red as Nicole leaned on the counter separating the machines from the rest of the store.

            “Oh, uh,” Waverly began to stammer. “Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that.”

            Nicole grinned and they both laughed. “If you’re looking to find out more about me, there’s better ways to do it than stalking my Facebook. Good work finding it though.”

            “Thank you? I think?” Waverly laughed nervously. “What other ways can you think of? I think bursting into my Starbucks late at night is a good start.”

            “Is this a date then?” Nicole joked.

            Waverly’s face turned pink before she looked away and finished steaming the milk. “It’s awful late for a coffee date, don’t you think?” She handed Nicole her coffee before wiping down the counter.

            “I suppose.” Nicole looked around. “Are you the only one here?”

            “Yeah, I close up most nights.” She said, locking the cash register and cleaning down the machines. “Why?”

            “I was thinking that maybe I should walk you out, as an apology for bursting in just as you were about to close.”

            “You don’t have to.” Waverly said.

            “Come on, I’m trying to be nice here.” Waverly started turning off the lights in the Starbucks and Nicole helped and then extended her hand.

            Waverly took the older girl’s hand and walked out of the Starbucks. Waverly locked the doors and they made their way into the dark parking lot. Her skin burned where it touched Nicole’s. Her hands were calloused but they were also soft and inviting. She was thankful for the cover of darkness because she was sure she was blushing, but why?  
            “Which car is yours?” Nicole asked.

            “This one.” Waverly began to walk towards it and Nicole stopped with her at the door.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow. I mean it this time.” Nicole smiled.

            “I’ll have expected you to finish the reading, I want discussion questions prepared.” They laughed.

            “I’ll keep that in mind, Waverly.” Nicole said as she walked away towards her car.

            Waverly drove home with her mind in a fog and she still had no reason why. It was absolutely infuriating.

            “Did you bring me my Frappuccino?” Wynonna asked as she opened the door to her house.

            “No, ‘cause you didn’t pay me.” Waverly shot back. “Gus? Are you home?”

            “I’m just in the kitchen dear! There’s chicken for you.” Waverly entered the kitchen and gave her a hug before sitting down at the kitchen table. “How was your first day?”

            “It was good.” Waverly said as she began to eat dinner.

            “I heard there’s a new girl in town.”

            “Yeah, her name’s Nicole. She’s in a couple of my classes.”

            “Is she nice?”

            “Yeah.”

            “You should try and make some more friends, Waverly.” She said as she ran the dishwasher. “And I mean more than those idiots Champ calls friends.”

            “I’ll try.”

            She finished dinner and told her goodnight and made her way upstairs. She showered, brushed her teeth, and then climbed into bed to finish the last of her homework. She set it on the floor once it was finished and as she tried to fall asleep she swore she could still feel where Nicole’s hand was touching hers and all she wanted was to sleep, but when she closed her eyes all she got was a flash of red. A flash of red and a whole load of confusion.

           


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, your support is so overwhelming. Please continue to give me feedback!  
> Come visit me at machinerisms.tumblr.com and tell me your opinion please.  
> Thank you so so much!

            “Okay I didn’t read the _whole_ thing,” Nicole burst into the class early, already talking. Waverly looked up and saw Nicole emphatically waving her hands and sitting down at the desk next to her. “But I have questions prepared anyways.” She smiled triumphantly.

            “I was, I was joking.” Waverly stammered.

            Nicole shrugged. “I was going to have to read it anyways, might as well do it now.”

            “How do you like The Great Gatsby then?” Waverly asked. “What questions do you have?”

            Nicole flipped open a small notebook and glanced at Waverly nervously. “Okay, first: is Nick gay for Gatsby?”

            Waverly laughed. “Officially – no. Fitzgerald never mentioned anything about that, but there are entire thesis’s based off of that. I hope you have more questions than that though, ones that I might actually be able to answer.”

            Nicole smiled again and their eyes met. The next fifteen minutes was filled with questions and to be honest, Waverly couldn’t think of a time when she had felt more comfortable with a person. People rarely asked her real questions, regarding her as a bookworm, someone who you could copy your homework from if you coerced them enough, and someone too detached to be friends with. Nicole had just moved here, she didn’t know this or at least she didn’t just yet and Waverly was enjoying her conversations with the other girl.

            “The two chatter boxes.” Their teacher was leaning against the board, arms crossed over his chest, and he was glaring at them. “Is this anything you’d like to share with the class?”

            “I’m sorry,” Waverly stammered. “It won’t happen again, I’m sorry…”

            Their teacher walked over to his desk and Waverly felt the blood run out of her face. He pulled out a pad of pink slips and then he filled out two. Detention slips. Waverly Earp was getting a detention for the first time in her life. She felt like everything was in slow motion as he walked towards their desks and then set down the two fateful slips.

            “It won’t happen again because both of you have detention tomorrow after school.”

            She felt like she might throw up. Nicole was looking at her, wide eyed. Waverly’s horrified eyes met hers and she saw Nicole mouth _I’m so sorry_. She folded up the slip and put it in her back pocket and folded her hands on the desk. She really felt like she was going to throw up.

            Waverly barely made it through the rest of class and then stumbled out with the crowd into the hallway. She was making her away from the classroom, her face burning and a lump caught in her throat as she tried not to cry. Just as she was about to make the turn to her next class, someone grabbed her arm.

            She spun around; ready to throw off whoever it was, but stopped when she realized it was Nicole.

            “Waverly I am so _so_ sorry I never meant for you to get a detention I am so sorry I promise I didn’t –“

            “Just,” Waverly took a deep breath. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll see you in forensics.”

            She turned her back on her and walked down the hallway, leaving Nicole standing there, watching her.

            Nicole sat down next to her silently in forensics, looking down at her notes. Waverly could see her ears were red (almost as red as her hair) and she would glance away when she saw Nicole looking at her. They spent the entire class in an awkward silence and she was having a hard time keeping her mouth shut because she might’ve been slightly frustrated with the redhead, but she still wanted to talk to her. She could barely shut up for a second around her so spending the entire hour and a half silent was torture.

            The class ended and they both turned to look at each other and for no reason in particular both began to laugh. She was feeling better about the detention, not much, but enough where she not longer felt sick to her stomach.

            “Sorry about earlier,” Waverly said. “I was upset and I acted kind of irrationally and I know it’s not your fault, I’m sorry.”

            “No, it’s okay, I get it. Can I still sit with you at lunch?” Nicole asked, giggling.

            “Don’t be silly, of course.”

            Champ visited her at her locker again (and pretty much shoved his tongue down her throat might she add) and she brushed him off and after an awkward second with Nicole due to Champ have no qualms about disgusting amounts of PDA they made their way to the lunch table with Wynonna.

            “You get a detention!” Wynonna leapt out of the seat and threw her arms around Waverly. “I’m so proud of you!” She was practically jumping up and down and before poor Nicole even had a chance to process what was happening, Wynonna grabbed both of her hands in hers and began shaking them profusely. “You, I like you! Thank you for giving my little sister a detention!”

            Waverly looked at Wynonna, shocked. She was displaying an emotion other than frustration or anger towards a person.

            “Don’t scare her off.” Waverly warned and Nicole nervously glanced from Waverly and then to Wynonna and back again.

            They ate lunch and something in Waverly felt a little lighter. It again _wasn’t_ the detention situation, but that Wynonna liked Nicole or at the very least didn’t hate her.

            As she was walking to her next class she got a text from Champ.

 

-party on friday u in

            She thought for a second.

-Yeah, sure. See you then.

 

            Gus was home early and Waverly opened the door with a smile. She wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax after a long day, but suddenly Wynonna pushed her out of the way of the door, being the bearer of bad news.

            “Waverly got a detention!” Wynonna shrieked.

            “Oh, honey!” Gus ran out of the kitchen, her grey hair spiked every which way. “Are you okay? Do you need a hug?” Waverly nodded and Gus embraced her. “It’s okay, it’s only one detention.”

            “I know.” Waverly mumbled against her shoulder. “I’m just a little upset.”

            “When is it?”

            “Tomorrow.”

            “Well, bring some work. I promise it’ll be okay.”

            “How come _I_ don’t get a hug every time I get a detention?” Wynonna pouted.

            “I don’t have enough hugs for that.” Gus joked and the three of them laughed.

            Later that night Waverly sat on her bed, her wet hair bunched into a bun. She was holding her phone and then nervously typed out a text to Nicole.

 

-There’s a party on Friday? Would you be in for that?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> So what I've decided I'm going to do with updates and that I'll do them in two back to back clusters, meaning if I update one day I'll update the next and then the next cluster will be a little later.  
> Thank you so much everyone!

            “You _do_ know where security is, right?” Wynonna asked, flipping through the radio stations on Waverly’s car. “You have to go there for the detention and then they’ll assign you to a room and you’ll spend like two hours there doing work. Come on, stop ignoring me.” She left the radio station on a classic rock song and then leaned on the dashboard. “I’m only messing with you.”

            “I know where security is.” Waverly mumbled.

            “Look, I know you’re pissed because you had to rearrange your work schedule, but it’s really going to be okay. Stanford isn’t going to kick you out just because you got one detention over talking in class.” Wynonna paused and then her eyebrows scrunched together. “When were you at security?”

            “They found my scarf once.”

            Wynonna began to laugh and Waverly sighed. She didn’t have time to eat breakfast this morning and she was sitting in a drive-thru line for McDonalds. Wynonna had suggested it and despite how absolutely unhealthy it was she needed something to get her going today.

            She hadn’t slept at all the night before. She would check her phone and then go back to bed only to wake up in a restless fit again and check her phone again and then she would repeat until she finally fell asleep around four in the morning. Gus had woken her up at 6:40 after sleeping through all of her alarms.

            “What do you want?” Waverly asked as the car lurched forward a little bit towards the speaker.

            “Just the usual.” She replied, not glancing up from her phone.

            Waverly ordered and then drove up to the window and paid. She passed the bag to Wynonna and they drove towards the school. She pulled into a parking spot and Wynonna pulled the breakfast food out of the bag. An Aerosmith song was playing quietly in the background.

            “Hey, I know I’m busting your chops a little about this, but I am sorry you got a detention. I was kind of waiting to see if you’d actually get through all of high school without a detention.” She paused and took a bite of her sandwich. “How did you get the detention anyways?”

            “I was talking and I didn’t realize what was going on. I was rude, totally in the wrong too.” Waverly set down her empty wrapper, not realizing how hungry she actually was. She drummed her nails against the steering wheel nervously.

            “Who could’ve possibly been that interesting?” Wynonna asked. “ It certainly wasn’t Champ.” She rolled her eyes.

            “I was talking to Nicole, she had questions about Gatsby.”

            “Hey, Waves?” Wynonna grabbed her bag off the floor.

            “Yeah?”

            “I’m glad you’re hitting it off with this girl, she seems like she could be good for you.”

            “She technically got me in trouble.”

            “Yeah, but you seem surprisingly okay with it now and that’s besides the point. She got you in trouble and I think that’s good for you, but also you need a friend. I’m glad you’ve got a friend now.”

            “Yeah,” Waverly paused and opened her car door. “Friend.”

            “Waverly!” They were walking through the parking lot and she sighed and Wynonna looked at her and rolled her eyes. “Waverly!”

            “Good morning.” She smiled sweetly and Champ ran up to her, throwing his arms around her.

            “Are you coming to the party? It’s after the game!”

            “Shit, yeah I’ll be at the game too. I’m bringing a friend.”

            He laughed nervously. “Why?”

            She shrugged. “She’s the new girl and she’s my friend and I thought she might like to come.”

            “You’re so sweet.” His praise was hollow though and both sisters knew it. He was saying it more to earn her favor and keep her with him. He was really probably keeping her around for ‘favors’, but Waverly was holding out on the hope that maybe his praise wouldn’t be hollow one day. She smiled in return and then a couple of his friends ran past and he joined them.

            “You can’t stand him, can you?” Wynonna said as they finally made it through the door.

            “I really can’t.” She sighed.

            “You can do better.”

            “But I can’t. No one in their right mind would date me.”

            Wynonna shrugged. “That’s not true.” Her lips pressed together. “Do you know that kid – his dad did classified missions in the Middle East? His name’s Xavier and I’ve been –“

            “Sleeping with him.” Waverly interrupted. “I know. I’ve known since like _July_. I was wondering when you would say something.” Wynonna’s jaw looked like it would hit the floor and Waverly smiled as she turned down the hallway. “I’ll see you at lunch. You should bring him.”

            Wynonna stood in the hallway, speechless. “Love you too, sis!” She called.

            She tried to walk quickly towards her class, nearly running and she burst into the class and sat down next to Nicole. The other girl smiled at her as she sat down.

            “Party, huh?” She asked.

            “Well, football game and party. I was wondering if you would come or if you wanted to maybe, I just thought it’d be nice to get out on a Friday night or something. Sorry, I didn’t think, but I’ll shut up there’s no pressure.”

            Nicole giggled. “Don’t worry so much. I’m in. I’m surprised if you want to be anywhere near me after this afternoon, though.”

            She never got a chance to answer because class started and they didn’t want a repeat of yesterday. Waverly couldn’t help but sneak glances out of the corners of her eyes at the other girl and then she would avert her eyes the second the other girl would look back at her. It was almost like a game or so it seemed, who would look away fast enough.

            The day went too fast for her liking and she ended up having to walk Nicole to security.

            “So do you want to come back to my house after the party?” She asked.

            “I thought you might be going back to that other guy’s house.”

            “Champ?”

            “Yeah.”

            “No way.”

            They both laughed and made their peace with the lady in security who led them into an empty study hall classroom and told them they would be there for two hours and then confiscated their phones and shut the door on them.

            “What do you want to do?” Nicole asked, throwing her bag down.

            “I don’t know what do you want to do?” They looked at each other and fell into a brief silence before laughing.

            “Do you want to go over essay drafts maybe?” Nicole asked, taking a folder out of her bag. “Is that okay?”

            “Yeah that sounds good.”

            Nearly two hours later they were sprawled on the floor, on their stomachs and looking over papers. They were in a heated argument over what Daisy and Jordan represented and their shoulders were touching and suddenly Waverly was very aware of her proximity to the other girl.

            “Does Jordan represent corruption or does Daisy?” Nicole asked, taking out a paper. “Jordan cheats in her golfing shit and Daisy sells out Gatsby, knowing that the supposed love of her life will rot in a jail cell or be killed. Which one represents corruption of the upper class?”

            Waverly turned to look at her. “Jordan represents the corruption more than Daisy because Daisy is immoral and she’s terrible, but she represents the plague of being material. Jordan uses her wealth to the advantage of her corruption. Daisy uses love.”

            They fell silent and their faces are closer together than when they started and for an instant Waverly swears Nicole _might_ kiss her and she’s not exactly sure how she feels about this, but their faces are close together and her eyes are only about half closed and then the door flies open and they jump apart and Nicole clears her throat and the moment is over and for some reason she feels an aching in her chest that the moment is over. Waverly sighs and gets off the floor.

            “Thanks for the help.” Nicole said. Her face was slightly flustered.

            “N-no problem.” Nicole stammered.

            They said their goodbyes and Waverly hurried out the door and saw Wynonna sitting on the hood of the car.

            “How’d detention go?” She asked.

            “Get in the car.”

            “What happened? Waves?”  
            Her face was still burning when they got in the car.

            “Have you ever almost kissed someone?” She blurted out.

            “Yeah, sure. Who hasn’t?”

            “Okay, good to know.”

            She started up the car and she was struggling not to speed home and she was trying to ignore it, but her heart was still _racing_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not a cluster chapter! There won't be another chapter tomorrow because I leave for vacation tomorrow! This is just an "I love you all very much and I thought I would leave you with a small gift before I left".  
> See you all in like 10 days!  
> Thank you for the support!

            Steph was making a vanilla latte of sorts and Waverly was leaning on the machine, waiting for her to be done. She was rambling on and on like it was nothing and frankly Waverly was bored. She seemed to be bored of her friends recently; they were hollow, as it seemed to her. She was talking about marrying her current boyfriend (citing the promise ring that Waverly thought was ugly in the process) and was discussing a bachelorette party.

            “What do you think about male strippers?” She asked, popping the lid onto the drink and calling out _Florence_ and a tall redhead with a light voice picked it up. “I think I would do that, would you?”

            “Do you want to _die_ , Steph?” Waverly asked and then held up her hand and turned on the headset, taking a drive thru order. “Yes, that will be up at the next window S’mores Frappuccino,” Waverly started waving her hands at Steph and she made her way to the cash register.

            “Well he’s way hotter anyways, so no _I_ wouldn’t die from the stripper.”

            Waverly walked back and began to make another order and Steph kept chatting to her.

            “That’s not what I meant!” Waverly hissed, annoyed with the other girl. “Have you not heard about male strippers that show up except they’re not strippers, they’re _murderers_?

            “You’re being ridiculous.”

            “No I’m not, I just don’t want to be killed and I don’t want you to be killed either so no strippers.” She glanced at the blonde who was frowning at her, clearly seeing her the way people tended to – the town freak who took college courses over the summer and studied exorcisms and all of that. Her other interests had very little relevance on her actual life it was just that she found things other than standard school subjects interesting. Finding things interesting in a small town that apparently earned you a name.

            “Hey so you know that girl in the grade above us?” She pushed another coffee out to a small blonde with her coffee marked _Isa_.

            “Be more specific.”

            Steph rolled her eyes and laughed. “You’re so dense sometimes, you know, the one you’ve been talking to.”

            “Oh, you mean Nicole?” Waverly smiled fondly, thinking of her. “Yeah she’s in two of my classes, she’s really nice.”

            “Well I’ve been hearing some _things_ about her from some people from her old high school.”

            “Don’t gossip, that’s mean.”

            “Who are you going to tell?” Steph laughed and Waverly cringed a little at the comment. “Anyways do you want to hear this or not?”

            “Not particularly.”

            “Well I’m gonna tell you anyways.” Steph smiled triumphantly and Waverly rolled her eyes. “So I’ve been snooping around and talking to people from where she used to live and apparently…”

            “If you’re going to tell me, tell me!” Waverly said angrily, making the coffee. She didn’t condone Steph gossiping about her, whether or not Nicole was now her friend and it was driving her crazy the way everyone acted about her too. Just because she hadn’t lived in this nowhere town her entire life didn’t make her an alien.

            “Well I’ve heard she’s a _lesbian_.” Steph lowered her voice at the last bit and Waverly looked at her, unamused.

            “Yeah, make your point.”

            “That is the point!” Steph said. “I knew there wasn’t something right with that girl.”

            “What do you mean there wasn’t something right?” Waverly demanded.

            “Well do I have to explain more?” Steph laughed and Waverly frowned.

            “There is _nothing_ wrong with her, Steph.” Waverly said, walking away from the station and leaving her friend.

            She was steamed (no pun intended) throughout the rest of her shift and up until closing. Waverly couldn’t tell what she was more angry about, the way Steph presented the fact, or that Steph thought it was okay to snoop in someone’s personal life and then gossip. _There’s nothing wrong with her_. She thought, scrubbing off the counter at closing angrily. She was the only one there. _What the fuck is Steph’s problem anyways?_

            “Am I too late?” She looked up and Nicole was standing in the doorway of the Starbucks. “It’s okay if I am, I just…” She paused and then trailed off and took a step in. “Can I talk to you?” She asked.

            “Yeah, just give me a second.” She continued to angrily scrub the bottles of flavor shots, turning her back to the other girl. All the sudden syrup shot out of the container and all over her work shirt. She leapt backwards with a yelp.

            “Are you okay?” Nicole asked, sliding over the counter. “Do you need me to get you a paper towel or anything?”

            “No, no I should be fine.” Waverly sighed. The syrup was leaking through her shirt and sticking to her skin. “Shit, I need to take this off.”

            “Do you keep shirts in the back?” Nicole asked.

            Waverly’s face flushed red. “Well, um, I need you to help me get this off…it’s a little small on me and now part of it’s wet too and I’m sorry I know this is awkward just can you help me please? Sorry.”

            “Yeah, of course, don’t worry about it. Here, lift your arms up.” Waverly lifted her arms up and Nicole helped her take it off. Waverly covered what was left with the discarded shirt and the green apron she wore.

            “Thanks, I keep extra shirts in the back… I’ll be right back and then I’ll make us coffee. I promise. It’s as a thanks for helping me with the shirt.”

            Waverly hurried into the back room and pulled an extra tee shirt out of her bag and slipped it on. Her face was flushed red and the blush extended down well to her collarbone. She took a few deep breaths before fixing her hair and walking back out.

            “Do you want a cappuccino?” She asked, making a soy vanilla latte for herself.

            “That’d be great, thanks.”

            She made the coffees and they sat down at one of the tables.

            “Can I ask you something?” Waverly asked, nervously taking a sip of her coffee. “It’s more of a rambling story, but regardless can I ask you something?”

            “Yeah, sure.” Nicole nodded and smiled at her reassuringly.

            “Look, Steph told me something today and whether or not it’s true isn’t really my point, my point is that people might be trying to cause problems with you and I’m worried.”

            “What did she say?”

            Waverly was sure she could get lost in Nicole’s eyes. They were brown and it was the color of reassuring brown, her eyes wide and the edges crinkled from smiling. Something about them made her want to smile back, but she was too nervous so she continued to play with the ring of cardboard around her coffee.

            “She said you were a lesbian and I get it, you’re not a unicorn and I couldn’t care less, but she could and I know a lot of other people who would feel the same way and I’m just worried that people might be trying to cause problems because you’re new and I’m sorry for rambling I’m just frustrated with her too for doing all of this and sorry, sorry I’ll shut up now before I make this worse.”

            “And you were still okay with taking your shirt off in front of me?” Nicole laughed and Waverly couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I’m not sure how she found that out so quickly, but she’s right. Are you…are you okay with still being friends? I get it if you’re not, that’s okay.”

            “No! No, you’re totally fine I’m just worried. Worried for you, that is I just don’t want anything happening to you.”

            Nicole seemed to release a small breath. “That’s good. Thank you.”

            “For what?”

            “Giving me a heads up about all of this, thanks.”

            “No problem.”

            “Can I talk to you now, though?” Nicole asked.

            “Yeah, of course.”

            “About detention…”

            “What about it?” She was trying to stop her cheeks from burning and then it looked like Nicole smiled with relief.

            “Nothing, don’t worry about it then.” The smile was more nervous than anything and they finished their coffee while chatting about school. “Can I walk you to your car?”

            Waverly smiled. “Of course.”

            Nicole took Waverly’s hand and they walked out to the parking lot and said their goodbyes and parted ways at their cars. Her hand felt like it was burning, like the last time and as she drove home she felt her phone vibrate. She ignored it until she got home and ate a late dinner with Gus and went up to her room.

 

-Thank you. I meant that earlier.

           

            Waverly typed out a response.

 

-No problem, you’re my friend.

 

-I’ll see you tomorrow (prepare your notes!! :) )

 

            Waverly smiled.

-Will do.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back from vacation :)  
> Thanks for the love while I was gone!  
> (This is a cluster chapter and its counterpart will be up tomorrow or Saturday depending on my schedule)  
> Thank you so much for the support, please keep leaving feedback!

****

            It was a nice day outside and Nicole and Waverly were sitting on a bench outside eating lunch. Wynonna had skipped school with Dolls and Champ claimed that he absolutely had to go practice football for the big game tomorrow night. Waverly didn’t mind his absence; on the contrary she was enjoying the time with Nicole, idly chatting.

            She found out that she liked camping, wanted to be a detective, preferred her hair braided rather than down, and oddly enough didn’t like peanut butter. Of all of the things Waverly had discovered about Nicole recently, the peanut butter horrified her.

            “What do you mean you don’t like peanut butter?” She asked, shocked. “What’s on your sandwich then?”

            “It’s sunbutter.”

            Waverly began to laugh. “Where do you even get that?”

            “In the grocery store! You’d be surprised.”

            Another thing Waverly found out was that Nicole had dimples. It was an accidental discovery on Waverly’s part. When Nicole smiled they came out and she honestly thought it was adorable, but then Nicole would realize she was staring at her and she’d look away quickly. Her face was probably burning at this point.

            Nicole was talking about something but Waverly had to admit to herself that her mind was elsewhere. She was vaguely wondering if this was what a crush was like.

            “Waverly? You there?”

            She snapped out of it and refocused on talking to Nicole. “Yeah, I am. Sorry, what did you just say?”

            “Where’s the party after the game tomorrow?” She asked.

            “I’m honestly not sure, it’s one of Champ’s friends.” She sighed. “I’ll drive you though, don’t worry.”

            “Alright.” Nicole smiled. “I am looking forward to this, Waverly.”

            “Me too.” Waverly smiled with relief because she couldn’t say she was lying. When she just went to parties with Champ she always dreaded going, dreading her boyfriend being drunk off his ass, and dreading the inevitable afterwards as she made him drive her home instead of staying over his house.

            “Also about last night, I think I found something out.”

            “Are you okay?” Waverly asked.

            “Yeah it’s just some people from my old school, they’re trying to cause problems for me here.” She made an annoyed sound. “I’m sure they’ll knock it off.”

            “If you ever need to talk I’m here, okay?”

            Nicole smiled. “Thanks, Waverly.” The bell rang and they stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            They both smile and parted ways. Waverly was off work today and the rest of the day passed by quickly. She drove Wynonna and herself home and had dinner with Gus, informing her about the party on Friday night. Wynonna made a snide comment about Champ getting wasted, which Waverly brushed off despite the truth behind it and then she went to bed.

            She didn’t dream often and when she did she often dreaded it. They were usually flashes of a mother she didn’t know or the shadow of a sister or a father who she also never knew. Other times they were faceless demons, coming for her, ready to drag her somewhere and take her soul. She didn’t dream often, but when she did it was almost always a nightmare.

            Once the dream started, she could feel herself dreading this. She was in her room and it was the evening. At the moment she seemed to be alone, but she knew it couldn’t stay that way for much longer. Suddenly the door opened and she jumped, expecting it to be some sort of shadow, but instead it was Nicole.

            “Hey there.” Nicole said, leaning in the doorway. “How are you?”

            “I’m good.” Waverly replied and Nicole made her way into her room.

            “I missed you today, baby.”

            _Baby?_

            “Yeah me, too.”

            Nicole continued to walk towards her bed and then sat down next to Waverly. She took her hand in hers before leaning her head on Waverly’s shoulder. Nicole then looked at Waverly and turned her head before kissing her gently.

            “I love you.” Nicole said.

            Then Waverly woke up.

            It was one in the morning and her face was absolutely burning. She scrambled for her phone and checked her empty messages. She felt like she was breathless as she rolled herself out of bed and walked downstairs to get a glass of water.

            She sat in the dark at the kitchen table and drank the water before just sitting there for a while. What was this? What was happening between her and Nicole? Was it anything? Was it all in her head? She sighed angrily, brushing hair out of her eyes. She knew that she didn’t like Champ and that she was with him more for social benefit than anything else, but did that mean that she liked Nicole? Did that mean that she was gay or was she bi? The thoughts raced through her head and she went back upstairs and didn’t go back to bed, instead she opted to open her computer and watch Netflix until her alarm went off.

            “Hey are you okay?” Nicole asked when Waverly was barely holding a conversation that morning.

            “I just didn’t sleep, sorry. I’ve been so out of it.”

            “No, it’s alright. I just want to make sure nothing’s wrong.”

            “It’s nothing. How’d you do on your essay?” Waverly asked, standing up and peering over the other girl’s shoulders.

            “95!” Nicole said, smiling. “Are you ready for the game tonight? Go angels, I guess.” She continued to grin.

            “I’ll be ready to go by tonight, but I’m going to need your address.”

            “Don’t worry about that.” Nicole said.

            The day passed by quick and once Waverly got home and cleaned herself up and steeled her nerves. Tonight was going to be fine.

            She picked up Nicole around 5 and she paid for their tickets and they found their seats. The game would start soon and they were both chatting excitedly. Nicole asked if she was rooting for Champ and she answered no, which earned a laugh from Nicole.

            The game started slow, but soon the other team took the lead. It didn’t help that their competitor had filled their section of the stadium and it was spilling over onto the track. Suddenly Purgatory High had possession on the ball and it was given to Champ, who ran it into the endzone.

            It was one of many touchdowns for them that night and somewhere in the back of Waverly’s mind she was aware of Nicole’s hand brushing against hers and in a moment of bravery as they stood to cheer again, she took it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nicole look at her and then look away quickly.

            Towards the end of the game they were beginning to lose interest and were quickly absorbed into another conversation. Waverly could not have cared less though and she wasn’t sure what was making her so brazen all of the sudden, but she more absorbed in Nicole’s lips and her dark pink lipstick that was starting to smudge.

            She went to wipe away the smudge with the pad of her thumb and their eyes met. They sat there; frozen for a second, and Nicole tips her head a little bit. They haven’t broken eye contact and for a second it doesn’t matter what else is going on around them, everything stops and they stare.

            Waverly sucks in a breath and she goes to move in closer, except the end of the game buzzer sounds and they jump apart. They let go of each other’s hand and Waverly watched Champ run out onto the field, screaming like a monkey.

            “You’re driving me to the party, right?” Nicole asks.

            Waverly’s mouth feels completely dry as she searches for the words. “Right, right.” She takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “Are you ready to go?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cluster no. 2  
> Please keep leaving me feedback, guys! Glad you like it :)

            Waverly followed the car Champ was riding in, her grip on the steering wheel turning her knuckles a ghostly shade of white. Nicole was looking at her and Waverly could practically feel the other girl itching to say something to her, but wasn’t saying much. The radio was playing soft music and Waverly had meant for it to distract her, but all it was doing was irritating her more. She thought that maybe getting drunk would be a blessing in this case, but as she turned onto a residential street, she decided against it. She knew Nicole would need a ride home.

            The intensity of the shadow of a kiss lingered between the two girls. Waverly _swears_ she would’ve done it, damn the consequences if that buzzer hadn’t gone off. Gus had always been telling her not to shy away from anything that scared her and she had started to take it to heart come high school, but now she was willing to take it all the way to the end of the line. Everything about Nicole scared her, it was new territory, but what she felt was intense and to her it felt like it would be a disappointment not to see something about it through.

            Her mind was wondering to what this defined her as now, though. It was a worry of hers, not having a defined box to set herself in and now was one of those times where it was beginning to unnerve her. She wanted a little box to secure herself in mentally, but now it wasn’t there. All bets were off.

            “Waverly!” Nicole screamed and she was snapped out of her thoughts as Nicole gripped the handle on the roof of the car and Waverly blew the stop sign. Luckily there was no one coming.

            “Sorry, sorry.” Waverly mumbled.

            “Are you alright, Waves?” Nicole asked, knowing better than to reach out to touch her.

            “Yeah I’m fine,” She looked at Nicole. “Do you have a curfew?” She asked.

            “My dad isn’t back until around 5am so before then.” She laughed a little, but it was strained. “Waverly, do you…”

            “WAVERLY!” Champ hollered and Waverly’s car made a jerky stop as she saw Champ standing in the front yard of some house and waving his arms. “OVER HERE!”

            Waverly sighed and backed the car into the driveway. She could hear the music from outside and she locked the car once Waverly and Nicole had gotten out. She put her keys in her jacket pocket and zipped the pocket for safe keeping when they entered the house.

            There were already too many people in the house than the house could really hold. It was an open floor plan and Waverly could already see the stashes of alcohol laid out and the snacks. Champ waved her over and she smiled weakly at him.

            “I’m going to go say hi to him.” Waverly sighed when she told Nicole. “I’ll be right back.”     

            “Don’t worry about me, Waves.” She smiled. “I won’t do anything stupid.”

            “I didn’t think you would.”

            “He’ll get lost in the party in thirty minutes, I guarantee it.” Nicole said. “He’ll leave you alone after that.”

            Waverly walked over to Champ and he pulled her into a hug. He already smelled like beer.

            “Did you see me, babe?” He asked. “I won!”

            “Your team won.” Waverly said.

            “Are you proud of me?” He asked.

            He was like a small dog, that’s what Waverly thought, except he wasn’t cute. He required constant attention and praise and didn’t have a very long attention span or IQ. “I am.” She was lying through her teeth now.

            His hands were hot and sweaty when he placed them on either side of her face and pulled her up for a kiss. It was rough and his lips were chapped and he tasted like cheap alcohol and sweat. He was practically shoving his tongue down her throat and vaguely in the back of her mind she wondered what kissing Nicole would be like instead.

            She pushed him away from her and he took it playfully. She wiped her mouth and he laughed, playfully pushing her shoulder, but Waverly stumbled backwards. She caught herself and he grabbed her forearm.

            “The teams over there…” He said.

            “Go, Champ.” She said. He wasn’t picking up on the hint of disgust in her voice and scampered off in his already slightly drunken state.

            What _would_ kissing Nicole be like? She wondered as she made her way through the crowd and loud noise and sat down on a couch. It had to be different than that. Nicole’s hands weren’t big and awkward like Champ’s, they were slightly smaller, but her fingers were long and thing and calloused at the very ends. She felt her face heat up slightly as she thought about it, but it didn’t deter her much, imagining the other girl’s face and pink lips that usually had a bit of pink chapstick on them and she would reapply sometimes throughout the day…

            “Hey, Waverly!” She was shaken out of her thoughts and looked up as Nicole sat down on the couch next to her. She was holding a half empty beer bottle and Waverly looked at it apprehensively. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to get sloppy drunk. You won’t have to carry me home, I promise.”

            I laughed. “I don’t think I would worry about carrying you home, Nicole.” They both laughed and Waverly leaned her head on Nicole’s shoulder. “You should go mingle and try and meet people who aren’t as lame as I am.”

            “Oh, Waverly.” Nicole chuckled. “You’re not lame.”

            “You’ve made friends with the lamest person in the school.” Waverly said.

            “I don’t think so.” Nicole said.

            Waverly picked her head up and looked at Nicole. Her face was flushed pink, probably from the alcohol, but she definitely wasn’t drunk. Her hair was wavy and spilling down her shoulders and she wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through it. She took an end and curled it around her pointer finger and Nicole giggled.

            “I’m not drunk, Waverly.” Their eyes met and Nicole’s pupils were slightly dilated, but no she wasn’t drunk. “I promise.”

            “Do you pinky promise?” Waverly asked, holding up a curled pinky.

            Nicole giggled a little more and hooked her pinky finger with hers. “I _pinky_ promise.” Nicole ran her hand across Waverly’s jaw and then held it gently with her hand. “You’re so beautiful, Waverly.” She said quietly.

            “No, you’re beautiful.”

            Did she want their first kiss to be when Nicole was slightly intoxicated? It wasn’t ideal, but Nicole definitely hadn’t lost control of herself. Even in the dim lighting, Waverly could see how beautiful Nicole was and she thought of what Gus has always told her about things that scare her and…

            She shifted her hand so it was cradling the back of Nicole’s neck and she wondered if she was doing this right, and Nicole leaned in ever so slightly. In a moment of bravery she pulled herself up to press her lips to Nicole’s.

            It took a second for Nicole to respond and Waverly was afraid she had been misreading this whole situation, but once Nicole’s lips pushed back against hers, she realized she hadn’t. This was entirely different than kissing any boy, it was so much softer and sweeter. Nicole tasted a little bit like beer, but also her lip-gloss from earlier and Waverly thought she could get drunk on this.

            “Waverly!” The two girls separated when they heard the drunken cry. Her name was slurred as she heard Champ call her name again.

            She stood up from the couch, flustered. “Champ! Over here!” She was sure her face was red as he stumbled over. He smelled like a liquor store had exploded on him.

            “Come with me?” He asked, cocking his head.

            “Yeah…sure.” Waverly said hesitantly and then glanced back at Nicole as he dragged her away.

            Their eyes met for one second and Nicole sat there completely motionless as Champ pulled her farther into the crowd and she lost sight of Nicole. Champ was heading for the stairs and immediately Waverly began to panic. He pulled her up the stairs and into the first room he found, closing the door behind him.

            “I love you so much, babe.” He went to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

            “Look, Champ, not right now.” She went to push past him to the door, but he blocked her way.

            “C’mon, kiss me Waverly.” He took a step towards her and kissed her and it was too rough, and immediately her mind flashed back to Nicole and how kissing Nicole on the couch downstairs had felt more right than it ever felt to kiss Champ.

            He was tugging at the end of her shirt and her mind began to reel. “No, Champ.” She pushed him off of her.

            “Don’t you love me?” He asked, backing her into the bed.

            “You’re _drunk_.” She said angrily.

            “That doesn’t change anything.” He placed his hands on her hips. “Don’t you love me?”

            “Get off of me!” She yelled and tried to get out of his grip, but he held her in place.

            “C’mon Waverly.” He slurred.

            “Waverly!” She heard a shout from the hallway. “Waverly where are you?”

            “Nicole!” She yelled.

            “Shut up!” Champ growled.

            Nicole pushed the door open and stopped dead in her tracks. Waverly’s frightened eyes met Nicole’s and the redhead began to seethe as she walked over and tapped Champ’s shoulder.

            “She said no.” Her voice was low and quiet and it chilled Waverly to the core.

            “Yeah and what are you going to do about it, _dyke_?” Nicole’s face flushed a deep scarlet before she tightened her grip on the boy’s shoulder and ripped him off of Waverly before sucker punching him in the face. “I’ll-I’ll call the cops!”

            “And tell them you were underage drinking at a party and almost committed an act of sexual assault? I don’t think so.” She said. Her voice was still dripping with anger.

            Waverly was still shaking as the two faced off. Champ charged at Nicole with a bellow and Nicole stepped out of the way. He fell on the ground and Nicole then walked over to him and took a kick to him in the face. Waverly pushed herself off the bed and walked over to Nicole, still speechless, before landing a swift kick to the boy’s side.

            “We’re done, Champ.” Waverly said. “If you _ever_ come near me again, I will call the cops.”

            “Is that a _threat_ , Waverly Earp?” He asked, half groaning and half laughing.

            “No, that’s a promise and a warning all in one, Champ.”

            Waverly walked out of the room and then burst into a sprint as she ran out of the front door. Her shaking hands fumbled with her jacket’s zipper as she tried to get her car keys.

            “Waverly,” Nicole said quietly. Waverly looked up at Nicole before Nicole reached for her pocket and took her keys out. “I’m driving you home, okay?”

            “But you…”

            “I normally wouldn’t drive like this, but you can’t drive, Waves. Please let me drive you home.”

            “Okay.” Waverly said quietly and Nicole unlocked her car.

            Waverly sat down in the passenger side and Nicole didn’t quite turn on the car yet. The second she sat down she burst into tears.

            “Waverly, did he hurt you?” Nicole asked. She shook her head in response and Nicole nodded, acknowledging her answer. “Okay.” She took Waverly’s shaking hand in hers. “He’s never going to get near you again, okay?”

            “T-thank you.” She gasped and she tightened her grip on Nicole’s hand. “I was so scared, Nicole.” She sobbed.

            “I know, baby. I’m going to take you home, alright?” She put the key in the ignition and the car started up.

            Waverly nodded. “D-don’t you want to talk about earlier?”

            “I want to make sure you’re okay, Waverly.” Nicole said as she backed out of the driveway.

            They drove home in silence, Nicole occasionally squeezing her hand as a sort of reassurance. Waverly’s house was dark when she pulled up.      

            “Do you want me to walk you in?” Nicole asked.

            “Yes,” They stepped out of the car and Nicole handed Waverly’s keys back to their rightful owner. “Thank you, Nicole.”

            Nicole linked her arm with Waverly’s and walked her up to her front door. Waverly unlocked it, her hands still shaking.

            “You don’t have to thank me for this.”

            Nicole walked her up to her bedroom and Waverly sat down on the bed. Nicole turned to leave, but Waverly stopped her.

            “Nicole?”

            Nicole turned around to look at Waverly. “Yes?”

            “Please stay.”

            Nicole nodded. “Okay.”

            Both girls kicked off their shoes and Waverly threw off her jacket and they crawled into the small bed.

            “Can I hold you?” Nicole asked quietly.

            “Please.”

            Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly and pulled her close. Waverly was listening to the steady heartbeat and the strong breaths the other girl had to offer and Waverly also wrapped her arms around Nicole, willing her to be close to her.

            “Goodnight, Waverly.” Nicole murmured, her head resting on the top of Nicole’s.

            “Goodnight, Nicole.” Waverly answered.

            The last thought she had before falling asleep in the other girl’s arms was the thought of how safe she felt with Nicole holding her close.

           


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your support is mindblowing!  
> I'm not sure if this will be a cluster chapter, just letting you know.  
> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com  
> Again, please continue with the feedback!

            There was Taylor Swift song playing and Waverly mumbled something. There was an amount of movement as Nicole stood up, looking around frantically on the floor before picking up the source of the singing.

            “Dad?” She paused. “No I’m fine, I just stayed over a friend’s house.” She paused. “It was late and her house was closer.” She paused and then made a frustrated sound. “No! I’m fine, okay?” Pause. “No I’m not drunk.” Pause. “I’m sorry, okay? I’ll be home later today. Okay. Okay. Bye, I love you too.”

            Waverly heard her toss her phone somewhere on the ground and Nicole sat back down on the bed.

            “You okay?” Waverly propped herself up, looking at Nicole.

            “I’m fine, it was just my dad.” She brushed some of the hair out of her eyes. “Are you okay?”

            “I’ve been better.” Waverly admitted, fully sitting up now.

            “Waverly are you going to tell anyone what happened with Champ?”

            “No.” Waverly said. “It’s over now.”

            “It’s just…I don’t think he’ll let it go and I don’t want anything happening to you.”

            “It’ll be fine. I’ll tell Wynonna, I think, but other than that I don’t want word getting out.”

            “Okay, Waves.” Nicole said. “Can we talk now, if that’s okay?”

            “Yeah, we probably should.” Waverly said.

            “Why did you do it? I mean I’m not arguing, but I’m just wondering why and I know with detention and at the game, but I just thought that thy were flukes maybe…” She sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. “Can you tell me what you’re thinking, Waverly Earp?” She asked. “Because for the life of me I can’t figure it out.”

            “Gus, she’s always told me to do things that scare me.” Waverly said. She was nervously playing with her hands.

            “I scare you?” Nicole asked, her eyes wide with concern.

            “Yes, but also no.” Waverly said. “This…it’s all new to me and it’s kind of exciting, but that means it’s also a little scary.”

            “I know the feeling.” Nicole took the other girl’s hands in her own. “Why did you ask me to stay?”

            “Because I wanted you to stay.” Waverly said quietly.

            “Do you know what I think, Waverly?” Nicole asked.

            “What?”

            “I think you should do what _you_ want to do for once and if it scares you, that’s great, but you should do whatever you want to do. I’ve noticed that about you, you tend to do whatever other people want you to do, but do what you want, Waverly.”

            “Okay.”

            “What _do_ you want?” Nicole asked.

            “I want you to stop talking.” Waverly said quietly.

            The two girls were sitting cross-legged on the bed in almost pitch darkness. Neither of them moved for a few minutes. Waverly swore that Nicole could hear her heart beating as she tried to work up enough power, enough _anything_ to do what she did last night. All she could think about was how it felt like her skin was on fire and it felt like the second passing by were hours when she looked at Nicole and when Nicole watched her, waiting for a move from her and everything combined jump started her from her thoughts.

            She moved forward suddenly, but this time Nicole was ready for her advance. Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck and pressed her lips to the other girl’s and it was all so new and exciting to her. Nicole’s lips were soft and a little chapped and she was still taken aback by how right it felt to kiss Nicole.

            She felt Nicole’s hands around her waist and Nicole pull her a little closer and rather than negotiate their position she uncrossed her legs and wrapped them around Nicole’s waist. Nicole hummed in approval and Waverly could feel herself getting pulled flush against Nicole’s frame.

            Using Waverly’s shift in position to her advantage Nicole tipped the smaller girl backwards. Waverly’s back hit the mattress and she gasped. Nicole pulled back and looked at Waverly and her mouth was shaped like an ‘O’. Waverly was smiling up at the redhead.

            “Are you alright?” Nicole asked.

            Waverly nodded, breathless and Nicole leaned back in to kiss her. Waverly could feel Nicole’s tongue teasing at her lips and she parted them and gasped again when her tongue sought out hers. Her fingers were tangling in Nicole’s hair and her breathing was coming out ragged.

            Nicole’s hands had slipped up her shirt and were resting on her sides and everything together was so overwhelming, but she couldn’t stop. She didn’t _want_ to stop kissing Nicole, and then her lips left hers and she wanted to mourn the contact, but her lips made a trail along her jawline and then down her neck and the light moan that escaped from the back of her throat couldn’t be stopped.

            She felt Nicole smile against her skin. “You like that?” She whispered and all Waverly could do was nod.

            Waverly couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, it was like she was addicted – addicted to Nicole. Her hands had moved down from Nicole’s neck and closer to her back, scratching at it a little as Nicole began to suck lightly on the skin she was finding on Waverly’s neck.

            Another breathy moan escaped her throat and Nicole nipped at the skin a little bit, drawing more noises out of Waverly. Once she was satisfied she kissed her way back up to Waverly’s lips and reclaimed them, Waverly beginning to kiss her with more urgency. She didn’t _want_ to stop kissing Nicole, tasting her, being with her.

            “Waverly,” Nicole pulled back. Her eyes were clouded over when she looked at the other girl. “We should stop.” She said.

            “Why?” Waverly asked, kissing her lightly.

            “What if you regret this?” Nicole asked. “All of this?”

            “I don’t think I will.” Waverly whispered, glancing at Nicole’s lips.

            “It’s early.” Nicole laughed. “I want to go back to sleep.”

            “Will you be here when I wake up?” Waverly asked, kissing her again.

            “I think I’ll stay.” Nicole kissed her behind her ear and she felt a rush of heat.

            She nodded in response and they shared another drawn out kiss that they reluctantly pulled away from and Nicole helped Waverly sit back up before the laid down in the bed and pulled the blankets up to their necks. Nicole faced Waverly and kissed her nose before Waverly settled down a little lower and rested her head against Nicole’s chest.

            “Waves! Waves how did the party go?” Waverly woke up with a start just before her door was flung open. “What’s Gingy doing here?”

            “Ah! It’s – ah – it’s nothing!” Nicole woke with a start just as Nicole and Waverly disentangled themselves from each other.

            “Late party?” Wynonna asked, leaning in the doorway.

            “Bad sex?” Waverly fired back and Nicole stifled a laugh.

            Wynonna stuck out her tongue. “I forgot a change of clothes. Was the party all right? Did he win?”

            Waverly could feel a knot growing in her stomach. “Yeah, it was fine.” She could feel Nicole squeeze her hand reassuringly.

            “You didn’t drink, did you?” Wynonna asked, rolling her eyes.

            “Nope!” Waverly grinned and Wynonna rolled her eyes again.

            “Whatever.” Wynonna began to walk away. “Have a nice playdate you two.”

            “You too!” Waverly called mockingly before laying down next to Nicole again. “You know you don’t have to leave, you know.” Waverly said.

            “Are you asking me to stay?”

            “Maybe.”

            They both shared a smile and kissed again as they fell back asleep in each other’s arms.    

            Waverly really thought she could get used to falling asleep in someone else’s arms and she drifted back into a light sleep as Nicole placed a tired kiss on her forehead.

            “I felt that.” Waverly whispered.

            “It was meant for you.”

            There were a million things Waverly wanted to say in that moment, maybe something like _I’ve never felt this way before_ or something more romantic, but her words were lost in a mumble that she whispered against Nicole’s skin as she fell asleep, clutching the girl beside her.

           

           


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cluster pt. 2  
> Thank you for the support!

            “I can’t stay all day.” Nicole said. “My dad will worry.”

            They were lying in Waverly’s bed, Waverly tucked under Nicole’s arm and resting her head on the other girl’s chest. Their hands were clasped together and Nicole was lazily playing with Waverly’s hair. Waverly’s laptop was shared between both of their legs and it was playing some movie that they weren’t really watching. Waverly hummed contentedly and closed her eyes for a long second.

            “How much longer until you have to go?” Waverly asked, looking up at Nicole.

            “I don’t want to, you know.” Nicole smiled and leaned in to gently kiss Waverly.

            Waverly smiled into the kiss and pushed back against Nicole’s lips, giggling a little bit. She had a kind of breathy laugh when they separated and she set her head back down on Nicole. The past couple hours had decidedly been the best of her life; they had been spent cuddling and kissing Nicole and talking.

            With Champ, just laying down was never enough. It had to be some intense make out session (which she wouldn’t argue with if Nicole decided to initiate that right then) or they had to be doing _something_ and when they weren’t constantly doing something, the cuddles were never like this. His hands were too rough and sweaty and his kisses were more rushed and rough than Nicole’s were.

            “What are you thinking about?” Nicole asked, nudging her a little.

            “You.” They both smiled and Nicole kissed the top of her head.

            “What do you think?”

            “I think,” Waverly placed a quick kiss on her lips. “That I like you.”

            Nicole laughed before cupping the other girl’s face in her hands and kissing her deeply. She pulled away and rested her forehead on Waverly’s and looked her in the eye. “I like you too.”

            Nicole stayed for another half hour before Waverly drove her back to her house. She parked out front of her house and they sat in the front seat of her sedan. They were holding hands in the front seat and Waverly looked at Nicole.

            “Thank you.”

            “You don’t have to thank me.” Nicole smiled sheepishly before leaning in to kiss Waverly.

            Waverly grinned and wrapped her arms around Nicole. She backed away from Nicole and she giggled and Nicole smiled again.

            “I’ll see you in class?” Waverly asked.

            “Of course.” Nicole kissed the top of Waverly’s hand.

            The front door of the house opened and a man in half a police uniform and half pajamas stepped out onto the porch. He waved at the car and called out for Nicole.

            “I’ll text you?” Waverly asked as Nicole opened the car door.

            “Not if I text you first.” Nicole grinned. “See you Monday, Waves.”

            Nicole shut the car door and said something to her dad as she walked up the lawn. Then she turned back to Waverly’s car and waved. Waverly smiled and waved back before driving off down the street.

            She pulled into an empty parking lot before she got home and sat there for a second. She could hardly believe this was happening, that she had done it. She had kissed Nicole and not just once, multiple times and even though she had dropped Nicole off about five or ten minutes ago she was thinking about kissing her again.

            She was sure her face was flushed and she couldn’t stop every giggle that bubbled out of her mouth when she thought about Nicole. Nothing about Nicole was familiar, but it was _wonderful_. She was soft and she was a good kisser and her hair and her smile and everything about her was driving her crazy…

            Almost driving her crazy enough to not stop the car before hitting the garage door. Her car screeched to a halt inches in front of the closed garage door and she let out a relieved sigh. Her heart was rattling in her chest as she turned off the car and walked back inside.

            She spent the rest of the day finishing homework for her AP classes and checking her phone for texts. They were sending texts back and forth to each other and Waverly couldn’t remember a time when she had actually looked forward to getting texts from someone.

            “Well someone’s happy.” Wynonna walked into the kitchen and checked the fridge.

            “What?” Waverly looked up from her laptop.

            “You look happy.” She took out a gallon of milk and sat down at the table. “What’s up?”

            “I have to tell you something.” Waverly blurted out and closed her computer.

            “Alright.” Wynonna took a drink of milk directly from the gallon and then set it back down on the table.

            “Something happened at the party yesterday.”

            “Are you okay?” Wynonna asked, immediately alarmed.

            “Yeah it’s just that he cornered me last night and Nicole came in and stopped him before anything happened, but I broke up with him. I told him we were done and then he freaked out at Nicole, they got into a fight, but he was so drunk that he never even got a hit in. I kicked him in the side and Nicole drove me home and I asked her to stay. That’s why she was here this morning.”

            “Jesus Christ, Waves.” Wynonna drummed her fingers against the table. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

            “No, Nicole got there before anything happened.”

            “I’m going to kick his ass.” Wynonna said angrily. “I’m going to send his sorry ass straight to hell.”

            “It’s okay now, don’t worry about it.” Waverly reassured her.

            “If he tries anything, tell me so I can kick his ass.”

            “Wynonna?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Thank you for being here for me.”

            “That’s not something you have to thank me for, you’re my little sister.”

            Wynonna left later than evening and Waverly fell asleep on the couch texting Nicole before Gus came home. She woke up to feel her phone buzzing against her chest in the morning and she sleepily opened her eyes and turned on her phone, trying to look at the text.

 

            -recognize this?????

 

            The text was from champ and when she opened the text she immediately felt her stomach crawl into her throat. He had sent a picture to her, of some friends taking a selfie at the party. That wasn’t the point, though. In the background of the selfie, she could see her kissing Nicole on the couch. The background was blurry, but it was clear enough that she knew if the picture got out there would be no escape.

            Tears were welling in her eyes as she forwarded the text to Nicole. She couldn’t bring herself to reply as the tears began to roll out of her eyes and in a bout of anger she threw her phone across the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the patience! I've been on vacation and now I have school work too.  
> The support on this work is absolutely blowing me away, please don't stop giving me feedback!  
> Much love and thanks to everyone supporting my writing.

            Less than fifteen minutes later there was a knock at Waverly’s door. She groaned apathetically and stood up and shuffled over to the door, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She usually didn’t get this upset _this_ easily, but she couldn’t do one damn thing without it being ruined. She couldn’t be genuinely happy for more than twenty-four hours before someone came in and ruined her life again.

            Waverly hated the people at her school. It was nothing against them personally, not really at least. It was just that her peers had never accepted her, not with Wynonna constantly in and out of juvie and her parents and older sister dead. This tidbit about her life had already caused her to be an outcast, but her odd habits and classes taken had made her a target of sorts.

            People were always out to ruin her life, so it seemed. Champ was pity dating her for the most part and wasn’t in it for her. Everyone around her was polite at face value, but she knew they talked about her behind her back. Now it wasn’t talking behind her back, but it was outright threatening her and as hard as she tried to fight it, for the first time in years it was causing her to cry.

            She unlocked the door and Nicole was standing on her doorstep holding a bundle of flowers.

            “I’m so sorry, Waverly.” She said and Waverly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

            “You didn’t have to come.” She mumbled into Nicole’s clothes.

            “I thought you might be upset.” She said.

            “I am.” Waverly nodded and Nicole closed the door behind them. Waverly stepped back from Nicole and Nicole set the flowers down on a table. “What about your dad?” She asked.

            “I told him I remembered I had homework, so it’s taken care of.”

            They both sat down on the couch and Nicole draped her arm over Waverly’s shoulder. They didn’t speak for a while as Waverly leaned in Nicole’s side and felt the other girl’s breathing. No matter what happened, she couldn’t deny how right it felt to be in Nicole’s arms and to be snuggled close to her. Nicole was rubbing Waverly’s arm gently.

            “What do you want to do?” Nicole asked suddenly.

            “Well what do _you_ want to do?” Waverly replied.

            “No, I don’t want to do anything that you’re uncomfortable with. I’m not going to do anything you don’t want to do.”

            “You’re leaving this up to me?”

            Nicole nodded. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, Waves.”

            Waverly took in a deep breath. No one that she had ever been with had done this – made sure that she was comfortable with what was happening. Her heart both swelled and hurt at the gesture from the other girl.

            “I don’t want this to stop.” She said.

            “Are you sure?” Nicole asked.

            “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” Waverly said.

            “What do you want to do at school?” Nicole asked.

            Waverly hesitated. “Can we play it off like we were drunk?” She whispered.

            “What?”

            “Like if anyone asks we say we were drunk and I thought you were Champ and…” She took a shaky breath. “We play it off like an accident. I don’t think I’m ready to have everyone know about this, not with the whole incident with Champ so recent.”

            “Okay.” Nicole nodded. “Whatever you want.”

            “I’m not ashamed of this.” Waverly said.

            “I know you’re not, I get it. You just don’t want people in your business.” Nicole tipped Waverly’s head up, her long fingers under Waverly’s chin. “Can I kiss you?” She asked quietly.

            Waverly nodded and then closed the gap between them, pressing their lips together. When their lips touched, Waverly knew that she had made the right choice. It felt like her skin was on fire where her body met Nicole’s and what she wouldn’t give to feel more of that.

            It started slow, Waverly moving her arms to wrap around Nicole’s neck to pull her closer. She could feel Nicole’s tongue teasing against her lips and she parted her lips to draw the other girl in. She was starting to tip back on the couch and she let gravity pull her back against the couch.

            She gasped when she felt Nicole’s body pressed against hers and she knew this kiss was heating up as Nicole’s hands rested on her hips and just under the bottom of the shirt she was wearing. She wrapped her legs around Nicole’s waist and Nicole began to tug lightly at the bottom of her shirt.

            Waverly smiled and breathlessly nodded and Nicole tugged Waverly’s shirt over her head. Waverly couldn’t help but giggle as Nicole took her shirt off and then moved her kisses to her jawline and the now exposed skin of her neck and collarbones.

            She gasped when she felt the other girl’s open mouthed kisses against her skin and all she could think about was how she suddenly didn’t feel self conscious under Nicole’s gaze and her touch. She hadn’t gone much farther than this with Champ, but his touch was rough and his gaze was always hungry and she could hardly help her reaction to shy away from him.

            This, _this_ was so much different. Her skin was on fire as Nicole lightly ran her hands over her skin, skipping over her bra, and then moving back down, running her hands over the skin she found as her kisses became lower across her exposed collarbone.

            She didn’t really want this to stop, but she knew she didn’t want to take this any further and she was about to say something when Nicole propped herself off and rolled off of Waverly.

            “Waves.” She said, intertwining their fingers.

            “Mmhm?” Her mind was elsewhere.

            “I…” She stammered. “I don’t want to go farther than this, not yet.” She paused. “Is this okay? Are you okay?”

            “Oh, oh Nicole!” She sat up. “Yes, of course it’s fine. I was just going to say the same thing.” She picked her shirt and slipped it back on. “Are you okay?”

            Nicole smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Waverly’s lips. “I’m perfectly fine.”

            “Will you stay?” Waverly asked.

            “For the day?” Nicole laughed and they sat themselves up on the couch. “If you want me to.”

            “Of course I want you to!” Waverly giggled. “Thank you for the flowers and for coming over.”

            They settled back into their original position, Waverly snuggled close to Nicole’s side. They turned on a movie that was on cable and they spent the rest of the day and into the night chatting until Gus came home and they separated themselves.

            Waverly appreciated what Nicole was willing to do for her and later that night, as she was ready to fall asleep in her arms, she thought that she could forget about all that was looming over them. She felt so safe with Nicole and so comfortable in her arms that she could forget about everything in her life, everything but her and Nicole. In fact she wanted to forget everything but that at this moment, she could she thought.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not posting!  
> I've been really tired and stressed out and I just started school again so updating has been really hard for me. Because I'm back in school again my updates won't be able to come as easily or in clusters.  
> I'm about to hit 12k views too and I have to say I'm so grateful for the support I've gotten and everyone reading my fic.  
> Thank you for your patience, everyone.

            “Ohmygod you broke up with Champ?” Chrissie rushed up to Waverly as she walked through the threshold, assaulting her with questions. Waverly was exhausted from worrying all night and as Chrissie grabbed the brunette’s shoulders and dug in with her long acrylic nails she could barely suppress throwing the over exuberant girl off of her. “Did you hear? That new girl – Nicole I think – kissed a girl at the party too! Steph was right!”

            “I’m tired, Chrissie.” Waverly sighed and shrugged out of her grip.

            “What’s wrong with you?” Confused flickered over the other girl’s face and then a moment of (false) realization. “Aw, you’re sad about your break up. Why didn’t you call me? Steph and I couldn’t brought over ice cream and other things to get over it.”

            “I was hanging out with Nicole.” Waverly deadpanned and began to walk down the hallway. Chrissie ran after her.

            “Since when were you friends with _her_?” She asked, disgusted.

            “If you bothered to pay attention to my life you’d know that we’ve become friends!” Waverly replied angrily and then stalked down the hallway, leaving Chrissie behind her.

            She was already regretting coming to school. Wynonna wasn’t home when she woke up that morning; she had probably caught a ride with Dolls. She drove to school in a sort of angry and sad silence and it had crossed her mind more than once to turn around and go back to bed.

            It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be in this relationship with Nicole, she did and even thinking about the few kisses they had shared sent electricity right through her. What she didn’t want was everyone else: she didn’t want the scorn, she didn’t want Champ blackmailing her, and if she was really honest with herself she didn’t want her friends anymore. They hung out with her more out of pity than anything else, sporting the Earp name only got you pity. That’s what happens when your parents are dead and your older sister is a delinquent.

            “Waverly?” A soft voice draws her out of her angry thoughts and she looks up and sees Nicole matching her stride for stride. “Are you okay?”

            _That’s the first time anyone has ever asked me that,_ she thought. She took Nicole’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently, desperate for some sort of physical reassurance. The other girl’s hand was soft in her owns and she couldn’t help my marvel at how different girls were, how much softer they were and how Nicole’s eyes sparkled to match her dimples when she smiled.

            “I think so.” Waverly said and Nicole looked both ways before grabbing Waverly’s hand and pulling her into an empty service hallway. She glanced around again and then pressed a quick kiss to Waverly’s lips, one that neither of them could help but to grin into. Nicole pressed her forehead to Waverly’s and looked the shorter girl in the eyes. “Remember, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

            The bell rang and the pair split apart. “Thank you.” Waverly mouthed and then she formed her hands into a heart before they both broke into a sprint to get to their class.

            The teacher wasn’t in the room yet and Nicole and Waverly collapsed into their seats. Waverly began to giggle and then Nicole joined her. There was something about Nicole that made her undeniably happy and the both of them unable to suppress their laughter were proof of it. They weren’t oblivious to the people around them, at least Waverly wasn’t. She could hear their whispers and feel their stares on the back of her neck.

            The anxiety about her peers couldn’t be matched by the excitement in her chest when she was with Nicole and by the time the teacher came in they had no idea what they were even laughing about in the first place.

            Class was filled with small side-glances and well placed smirks and bad puns scribbled on loose-leaf paper. Waverly folded them all, making sure the creases were exactly right before putting them in her pocket and writing one back to Nicole. Were they being obvious? The possibility was there, she wasn’t the best at being discreet. Did she care? Waverly gave this question a little more thought; it took her to the end of the class to truly answer it. By the time the class was wrapping up Waverly decided that she didn’t care what the people around her thought, but what was more important was keeping Champ and he potential blackmail at bay.

            “I’ll see you later.” Nicole said as they walked out of the room and for a second she held Waverly’s hand before they parted ways.

            She was grinning from ear to ear and she couldn’t help it. It felt like she could run forever.

            “What’re you so happy about?” A brash voice caught up with her and she seized up as Champ grabbed her upper arm and then dragged her to the side of the hallway.

            “Well I broke up with _you_ , for starters.” She answered angrily, looking at Champ.

            His pupils were completely dilated and they were ringed with read. His breath smelled like alcohol too and by the way he was acting she wouldn’t be surprised if he was high and drunk. His grip grew tighter on her arm and he stood there, glaring and breathing heavily through his mouth and he didn’t say a thing. He was scaring Waverly.

            “What do you want Champ?” Waverly asked.

            “ _Yeah_ , Champ.” Wynonna butted in between the two. “I don’t think she wants you here.” Waverly took a step behind Wynonna as Champ faced off with her older sister.

            “This has nothing to do with you.” Champ tried to sound menacing, but his voice just ended up slurring the more he tried to talk.

            “I could report you right now.” Wynonna warned, sizing him up in case of a fight.

            “Your dyke sister could do that.” He guffawed to himself and without warning Wynonna punched him in the jaw. He stumbled and then fell backwards and Wynonna looked around before grabbing Waverly and dragging her into a supply closet a couple hallways down.

            “Waves.” Wynonna said, bringing Waverly down to the floor with her. “What happened at the party?”

            It all spilled out at once and suddenly she realized that she couldn’t keep anything a secret from her older sister. No matter how much Wynonna frustrated her sometimes, she meant the world to Waverly and no matter what Waverly knew Wynonna would have her back – or at least she hoped she would. She told Wynonna everything: what had happened with Champ, the initial kiss with Nicole, what had happened at the game, and how Nicole had stayed for most of the weekend after Champ had blackmailed her. Wynonna didn’t stop her from telling her and she stayed attentive until Waverly finished and took a heaving sob.

            “I swear I was going to tell you!” She cried.

            “Waves, baby,” Wynonna said softly. “You’re my sister, let’s get out of her.”

            “What?” She sniffled. “But that’s _skipping_.”

            “I don’t think you need to be around these people today.” Wynonna said seriously. “Did you drive today?”

            “Yeah, just let me tell Nicole that I’m leaving.”

            “I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Wynonna shook her head.

 

-Hey, I’m leaving.

            There was a pause before Nicole answered.

-Why??????

-I got into a fight with Champ and Wynonna knocked him out. She knows everything now and she thinks I should go home.

-Want me to bring you your work after school?

-Thanks

-I’m sorry

-What are you sorry about?

-I got you into this

-No you didn’t, trust me. If you want we can talk more about it when you come over.

-Absolutely, Waves. See you later alligator?

-In a while crocodile.

 

            “Hey, come on let’s get you up and get you some ice cream.” Wynonna stood up and extended her hand and Waverly took it. They both stood up and Waverly wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her hard.

            “Thank you.” She whispered.

            “I’m always here for you.” Wynonna reassured before taking both of their bags and walking out of the supply closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been very busy with school!  
> Thanks for the support everyone!

            It had been a week since the incident at school. She had gotten another detention for skipping school and she wasn’t surprised, but oddly she didn’t care. Things weren’t going back to normal, Champ was shooting nasty glares at her whenever they were within the same vicinity. Nicole was coming over nearly every day after school when she wasn’t helping her dad out with work or cooking dinner and for once Waverly was enjoying someone’s company.

            There were curled up on the couch, each typing their respective essays. Waverly was practically curled in Nicole’s side. Wynonna would walk by her room every once in a while and glance in without stopping and then continuing on her way.

            Nicole shut her laptop and set it to the side and wrapped both of her arms Waverly before kissing her forehead. Waverly smiled and then shut her laptop and pushed if off her legs.

            “Hey baby.” Nicole said. “How’s the essay coming?”

            “Mm, it’s good.” Waverly looked up at Nicole and smiled before briefly kissing her. “How’s your work going?”

            “Good.” Nicole paused and then briefly fidgeted with her hands.

            “Is something wrong?”

            “No, just…” Nicole paused again. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

            “A date?” Waverly echoed.

            “It’s okay if you don’t want to or if you aren’t comfortable, I just wanted to know if you wanted to see a movie or something. We could go to the next town if you want.”

            “I want to!” Waverly quickly amended. “I’m sorry, I was just surprised. I would love to go on a date with you, Nicole.”

            “Really?” Nicole grinned, her cheeks coloring pink.

            “Yes really!” Waverly giggled. “When?”

            “Are you free this Sunday?” Nicole asked.

            “I am. Will you let me know when you’ll pick me up?”

            “I will let you know.”

            They both shared a moment of silence, Waverly’s face hurting from the almost stupid smile she was wearing.

            “I think I’m done working for today.”

            Nicole nodded. “Me too.”

            Waverly kissed Nicole again, leaning into it more this time and wrapping her arms around Nicole’s neck. Her fingers were just at the edge of Nicole’s hairline, and what seemed like mere centimeters from pulling the other girl’s red hair from the neat bun it was in. Her lips were soft and the kiss was both gentle and insistent at the same time. Waverly’s heart pounded in her chest. They hadn’t gotten as far as they almost had the other weekend and Waverly wasn’t sure what she wanted, whether she wanted that or not.

            They broke apart and Nicole opened her laptop again.

            “I thought we were done with homework?” Waverly asked.

            Nicole shifted herself so that she was sitting up and Waverly adjusted so that she was almost sitting in the other girls lap.

            “We are.” She typed Netflix into the URL bar. “Just thought this would be a nice break.”

 

* * *

 

            It didn’t matter after that what was happening to her in school. Nothing could stop her from pushing through the week and getting herself to Sunday. The longer the days dragged on, the more she wanted to go, the more she was looking forward to their date.

            She could barely sleep the night before, her heart thudding with the very prospect of going on a date with Nicole. She never could’ve imagined this last month, but now she couldn’t imagine anything different. Waverly was looking forward to leaving the house and spending time with her and maybe getting to hold her hand someone semi-public. Everything about this was new and there was a part of her that was thrilled and excited and there was another part that was terrified, but she knew that she wanted to go through with this.

            She heard a knock on her bedroom door and she sat up and turned on the lamp. “Yeah?”

            “Hey, Waves?” Wynonna asked. “Can I come in?”

            “Yeah sure.” Waverly said and Wynonna swung the door open and walked in.

            “So you’ve been happy.” Wynonna said and sat down on the bed. “You got something going on this weekend?”

            Waverly giggled and looked down. “I’ve got a date with Nicole on Sunday.”   

            “You do?” She asked.

            “I do!”

            “Congratulations!” Wynonna said. “Are you going to the movies?”

            “I am!”

            “Don’t sit in the back!” Wynonna laughed.

            “Why not?” Waverly asked.

            “No reason.”

            “Okay.”

            Wynonna stood up. “Have fun!”

            “You spending the weekend with Dolls?” Waverly called.

            “You could say that.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you with him or not?”

            “I’m just gonna not answer that.” Wynonna said before walking out.

            “Good night to you too!” Waverly called back before turning out the lights and then falling asleep, a goofy smile plastered on her face.

            She woke up and spent that Saturday at work, making Starbucks orders and ignoring a few of her coworkers not so well disguised glare. She was keeping herself busy by making the orders and ignoring everyone around her. She was trying not to labor on the idea of the date tomorrow and what she should wear and what kind of bra and lipstick she should wear and if any of that actually matter. Her hands shook as she opened the cash register and made change and took credit cards and made expensive caffeinated drinks.

            Whenever she made a cappuccino she thought about Nicole. Whenever she did anything she was thinking about Nicole, what it felt like to kiss her and to be wrapped in her arms. She thought about her perfectly red hair and her smile and the two dimples she had. She thought about Nicole.

            “Man, what’s wrong with you?” One of her coworkers asked and she shot him a nasty glare.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I dunno man you seem so _out of it_ today. It’s not like you.”

            “There’s just a lot going on right now.” She said as she took her apron off and put it in her locker.

            “Got that right.” Someone else muttered under her breath.

            _One more day until my date with Nicole._

           

* * *

 

            “Hey baby, when will you be ready?” Nicole asked over the phone.

            Waverly was staring at two different tank tops laid out on her bed. “Soon, probably.” She answered.

            “What movie do you want to see?” Nicole asked.

            “I don’t care as long as there’s popcorn.” Waverly giggled and Nicole laughed too.

            “I’ll see you soon baby.” Nicole said and then hung up.

            Waverly threw her phone down on her bed. “Which fucking shirt do I wear?!”

            Wynonna stopped in front of the door. “Not that bra.”

            “Not helpful!”

            “Whichever shirt shows more midriff!” Wynonna yelled down the hallway.

            “They all do!”

            “Just pick a fucking shirt, Waverly!”

            After a few more minutes Waverly picked a shirt and quickly did her hair and makeup. She looked at herself once more in the mirror before grabbing her purse and walking towards the front door.

            _I’m ready for this_.

            She heard the car pull into the driveway and she sprinted outside.

            _I’m ready_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have gotten a lot of messages concerning the continuation of this fic and here is the verdict:  
> No matter how long it takes for me to update, it's not abandoned.  
> I have a very hectic schedule this year for school and to be honest updating my fics are the least of my worries. I understand that you're concerned I'm just going to end this without a true ending, but I will. Anyways, thanks for the patience, here's my update.

            Waverly practically leapt down the driveway and towards Nicole’s car that was idly at the bottom of her driveway. Nicole stepped out of the driver’s seat of the car and Waverly pulled her into a tight hug.

            “Hey, I missed you.” She said, untangling from Nicole.

            “I missed you too, Waves.” Nicole smiled and opened the passenger seat of the car. “Prettier ladies first.”

            “Oh, shush.” Waverly couldn’t stifle her giggles as she stepped into Nicole’s truck.

            Nicole got behind the wheel in the driver’s seat and looked at Waverly for second.

            “Did you know that you’re beautiful?” Nicole asked.

            Waverly felt her face heating up. “I also think you’re beautiful, Nicole.” Her words were stuttered and if it was possible to trip over yourself while sitting still, Waverly was most definitely tripping over herself.

            Nicole made her nervous, but not in a bad way. Every time she talked to Nicole she found all the words that she wanted to say to her caught in her throat. Every time she looked at Nicole her heart raced faster and honestly when she did both of those things together she was surprised she could barely keep herself together. Nicole absolutely exhilarated her in every way possible and any trouble outside of their relationship was just white noise compared to everything happening between herself and the redhead.

            Nicole put her car into reverse and checked the rearview mirror. “Do you have any particular movie in mind, cutie?”

            _Cutie._ Waverly’s brain missed the entirety of the question before she heard that word because again, any coherent thought she had had been wiped from her brain.

            “Waves?” Nicole asked, nudging her gently.

            “Oh!” Waverly jumped up in surprise and laughed a little. “I’m sorry – I don’t know what happened there.”

            “Did you hear about that new movie, Hacksaw Ridge?” Nicole asked. “I know you like history, but I’m not sure if that’s your cup of tea. What do you think?”

            “Is that the one about the conscientious objector during World War II?”

            “It is!” Nicole took a left onto the highway that led out of Purgatory and to the next town over. “I’m in if you are.”

            “That sounds really nice.”

            “I’m happy that I’m able to do this with you – I’m glad you wanted to go.”

            “Why wouldn’t I want to go?”

            “It’s just that I’m a girl and I didn’t know if you would be comfortable with going out in public and…” Nicole paused and took a breath before laughing a little bit. “I’m glad you’re here, that’s what I meant to say.”

            “Thank you for asking me, I don’t think I would’ve gotten around to asking you myself for a while.”

            “Then I’m glad I asked.”

            It was true that Waverly could hardly believe this was happening to her. She was going on a _date_ with _Nicole_ and going on a normal date with her sounded perfect. Everything about being with Nicole seemed perfect, she loved holding her hand and if it was up to Waverly she wanted to kiss Nicole every time she saw her because there was something completely magical about kissing her.

            They held hands as they walked into the theater and Nicole bought the tickets and Waverly bought the popcorn and they walked to the theater slowly, savoring the moment between the two of them. The old theater was almost completely empty and it had a sense of abandonment about it and the theater that the movie was showing in was empty until the previews were almost over when a group of gangly teenagers entered.

            They were sitting in the very back row, above the teenagers below them and perched high to see the movie screen. Waverly was holding Nicole’s hand and her head was leaned on the other girl’s shoulder. Nicole’s head was rested on top of Waverly’s and for the first thirty minutes of the movie Waverly couldn’t have imagined anything more perfect than the unspoken closeness between them.

            Nicole picked her head up from Waverly’s and Waverly sat up and looked at Nicole, afraid to ask why Nicole had suddenly sat up. Their eyes met briefly and suddenly time seemed to slow down. Nicole’s eyes glanced at her lips and again, as they moved through their own little pocket in the universe, they kissed.

            There was a part of Waverly that couldn’t believe she had become that person that kisses their date in the back of the movie theater, but there was the other part that just didn’t care.

            Her hands reached up to cup Nicole’s face and pull her closer. She didn’t want to stop kissing her; she didn’t want to stop feeling Nicole’s soft yet insistent lips against her own. _This is heaven_ , she thought and she really thought that was what it was. She thought this feeling of euphoria she had with Nicole was absolutely heaven on Earth or the closest she could possibly get.

            Waverly couldn’t recall what happened after the main character was drafted into the army because she was too busy with Nicole. Her skin was on fire everywhere Nicole’s hands were touching her and honestly if the lights had never come up in the theater she would’ve never stopped kissing her.

            “I think it’s over.” Nicole whispered in Waverly’s ear before pressing a soft kiss on the skin below it, making Waverly shudder.

            “Thank you for today.” Waverly said before pressing a quick kiss to Nicole’s lips.

            “Oh, it’s really no problem.” Nicole grinned and Waverly couldn’t help but grin back. Nicole took both of Waverly’s hands into hers and looked at her. “Thank you for coming with me tonight.” She took a deep breath. “Do you want me to drive you home?”

            “Do you want to stay the night?” Waverly asked.

            “Like a sleepover?”

            “Yeah. Do you want to stay for a sleepover?” Waverly giggled at the absurdity of her words.

            “Of course.”

            They made their way to the car giggling and once they got into the car, Waverly took a deep breath. Nicole started up the car and looked at Waverly and in the split second that she did a million thoughts raced through her brain. She thought about how much she wanted to kiss her again and how much she loved feeling the other girl close to her and she practically lunged over the center console and kissed Nicole again.

            It didn’t matter that she had kissed her about ten minutes ago, it was absolutely like a drug kissing her. Nicole’s arms wrapped around her with less restriction than in the theater and the back of her shirt began to ride up where the other girl’s hands were clasped.

            Waverly pulled herself over the console and straddled Nicole’s hips, pinning Nicole against the door and the window. Her breathing was coming out a little shallow and she could feel Nicole tugging at her shirt a little bit and she wanted more, she wanted to feel more of this feeling, this feeling that she had with Nicole.

            “Waves, Waverly.” Nicole gasped, pulling away from Waverly, her face flushed and a goofy smile plastered on her face.

            “Yeah.”

            “Let’s go home.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anti-Climactic much? :p

            Waverly was breathless, she was breathless and exhilarated and when she glanced down her shirt ever so slightly pounded with the rhythm of her heart. It felt like she was flying, like her head was filled with helium and the walls of the pickup truck and the roof couldn’t keep her in. She couldn’t begin to describe what she felt right now – everything from excitement, running through her veins like wolves to a sort of low terrifying dread that she had pushed it too far.

            If she had pushed too far she wasn’t actually sure if she was sorry, no she definitely wasn’t sorry for wanting to taste Nicole’s lips one more time, she wasn’t sorry for the way she wanted to feel Nicole’s hands pulling at the back of her shirt just _one more time_. Even as the car pushed through the inky night back towards Purgatory she couldn’t help the goose bumps that rose on her skin as she thought about it all over again.

            Even through everything she was feeling, how she wanted Nicole _more_ but she wasn’t sure how. She was certain it was similar to that moment from the past week where she had ended up under Nicole with her shirt off, but there was always something lying under it all. It was like this soft affectionate feeling that she held towards the other girl and even as her skin burned, she felt it like a gently flowing river underneath it all.

            It felt so right to kiss Nicole – so natural to have her body fit with the other girl’s and to wrap her arms around the back of her neck to pull her closer. She was positively certain she could get high off of kissing Nicole, her chapped lips and sometimes her vanilla chap stick, the soft flannel that she wore that drove Waverly crazy, and the way her nose brushed against Waverly’s cheek when she went to kiss her again. The subtle thought in the back of her mind was that she didn’t know how she ever got by kissing people who _weren’t_ Nicole because it never felt like this to her.

            “Hey, hey Waves we’re back are you okay?” Nicole asked, lightly shaking Waverly’s arm. “Where’d you go?”

            “I was thinking.”

            Nicole put the car into park and unbuckled her seatbelt. She turned to look at Waverly, resting her elbow on the center console and her chin on her hand. Some of her hair was falling in her face, right between her eyes and Waverly wanted to lean forward and slowly brush it away and kiss her again, but Nicole seemed ready to ask her another question, so Waverly waited patiently.

            “What were you thinking about?” Nicole asked and her brown eyes are wide and watchful and Waverly takes a deep breath before slowly answering.

            “I was thinking about you.”

            “Do you want to elaborate?” Nicole asks again with a coy smile.

            “No, I was just thinking about how you make me feel.”

            “And how _do_ I make you feel?” Her questions were becoming more and more inquisitive and Waverly was trying her best to dodge them and to dodge the fleeting thoughts in her head.

            “Really good.”

            Nicole laughed and Waverly’s heart fluttered and Nicole turned off the car and took the keys out of the ignition, shoving them in her the pockets of her jeans. “Do you want to go inside.”

            “Yes please.”

            They both smiled and stepped outside and Nicole fumbled for her keys as she tried to lock the car and Nicole walked around the front to find Waverly sitting on the hood of the truck.

            “You look good there.” Nicole said quietly, her eyes quickly skimming over her body. She took a step forward, pacing her palms on the hood of the car on either side of Waverly, leaning forward and kissing her deeply.

            “Glad you think so.” Waverly pulled Nicole closer for another kiss, the redhead’s lips meeting hers briefly and depriving them of the pressure she wanted before skirting down her jawline and pressing small kisses to Waverly’s neck.

            Waverly gasped and her eyes slowly closed and she felt like she was caught in between the hot feeling on her skin, the certain flush that was covering her face and the cool night air, pressing back against them. The town was quiet at this time at night, there was a lone cricket chirping in the distance and she was grateful for the small all-but-deserted town now as she shared a semi-intimate moment with the other girl.

            “Nicole.” She gasped as her mouth began to trail lower over her exposed collarbone. “Nicole, we should…” It was hard to hold on to coherent thoughts. “Nicole we should go inside.”

            “Okay.” Nicole says, nipping lightly at Waverly’s collarbone once causing Waverly to gasp sharply.

            Waverly slides off the hood of the pickup truck and her hand interlaces with Nicole’s as she unlocks her front door and they step into the entryway. Waverly locks the door behind them and all she can see is the outline of Nicole in the inky darkness and she blindly reaches forward for the other girl.

            Her hands catch either side of Nicole’s face and pull her down for another kiss. It starts slow and heavy, Nicole’s hands desperately pulling at Waverly’s shoulder blades and Waverly deliberately kissing Nicole. The kiss is practically searing with electricity and Nicole’s hands find their way to rest on Waverly’s hips and guide them towards the stairs.

            Waverly’s heart is pounding in her chest and when she slips her tongue past Nicole’s lips the redhead groans and it sends a pool of heat straight in between Waverly’s thighs. They’re up the stairs now and stumbling blindly towards Waverly’s room and Waverly kicks the door shut behind them as Nicole backs her towards her bed.

            They fell back onto the bed, limbs tangled and Nicole on top of Waverly. She was desperate to feel more of Nicole – to have more of her and she arched up to press her body against the other girl’s curved, muscular body. It felt so right to have her fingers tangled in Nicole’s hair and Nicole’s hands up the back of her shirt, running against the skin there.

            It’s only when Nicole’s thigh finds its way between Waverly’s and Waverly lets out the smallest of groans that she really realizes the magnitude of what is happening. Her lips hurt in a good way from desperately pressing against Nicole’s and she can feel how much she really wants her and she isn’t scared. No, she wasn’t scared of Nicole – Nicole had her full trust it was just that she paused momentarily and in that moment she realized that she wanted the other girl, but this was not the time.

            “Are you okay?” Nicole breathes, her long slim fingers tracing Waverly’s jaw and then finding the soft skin under her chin and tipping her chin up so they can look each other in the eye.

            Waverly is tempted to say yes, to let this continue because she _does_ want her there’s no denying that, but she takes a moment to think. “Nicole, I don’t want to go farther…at least not right now I don’t think.” She says and there’s a slightly blush across her face and her eyes can’t meet Nicole’s. “I’m not ready.”

            Nicole pauses and then roles off of Waverly and instead props herself up next to Waverly, taking the brunette’s hand in hers. “It’s okay not to be ready, Waves.” She places a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re really good at kissing, you know.”

            Waverly rolls over so she’s facing Nicole and smiles. “So are you, you know.”

            “Oh, really?”

            They share a brief kiss again before pulling apart. “I’m sorry.” Waverly says shyly.

            “No, no don’t be sorry.” Nicole says. “Don’t ever be sorry for saying no or speaking up.”

            “I just don’t want to rush into anything.”

            “That’s okay, neither do I.” Nicole smiled. “I just want to enjoy this moment with you.”

            “So do I.” Waverly breathes softly.

            Nicole tenderly wraps her arms around Waverly and Waverly presses closer to the other girl, resting her head against her chest. She doesn’t remember falling asleep, but she remembers the sense of security and the feeling of Nicole’s arms wrapped around her, keeping her safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that my updates are sporadic, but thank you all for not yelling at me in the comments to update that means a lot to me. This work is not abandoned and I have not forgotten about it, I promise.

            “Soooooo,” Waverly jumped about five feet in the air on Monday morning when Wynonna spoke. “How was the sex?”

            “What?” Waverly asked as she looked over and saw Wynonna sitting at the kitchen table with her feet up.

            “Oh come on I noticed that Nicole slept over.”

            “So?”

            “So, did you two _do the do_?” Wynonna asked, making obscene hand gestures.

            Waverly rolled her eyes and pulled out two coffee mugs from the cupboard. “No, we didn’t.” She answered. “Can you not talk to me about my sex life, Wynonna?”

            “No need to be grumpy, Waves. It’s not my fault that you’re still a virgin.”

            “Wynonna!” Waverly yelled, slamming the mugs down on the counter. “Stop it!”

            “I’m just telling the truth.” The older Earp teased.

            “Wynonna, I’m not in the mood.”

            “Hey, where is Haught-stuff anyways?”

            “In the shower.”

            “You should join her.”

            “I’m absolutely not doing that.”

            “Why? ‘Cause then we’d be late for school?”

            Waverly grabbed the coffee pot and poured two cups. “Wynonna I don’t want to discuss this with you.”

            “I’m just trying to help move things along.”

            “Wynonna, you don’t get it! I don’t want to right now, I want to take this slow with Nicole. You could try and do me a favor and stay out of my romantic life for now! It’s bad enough that I’m being harassed by Champ and his friends.”

            “Wait, what?” Wynonna sat up, suddenly serious. “Who’s been harassing you?”

            “A lot of people have been mean to me since I broke up with Champ. He spun the whole story so it looked like I cheated on him at the party and then dumped him. He totally left out the part where he was being horrible to me and I guess,” Waverly sighed. “I guess now people don’t trust me.”

            “Waverly he tried to hurt you whether or not Nicole was there he tried to hurt you. You had every right to leave him right then and there.”

            “I know, but I just hate that as soon as I stopped dating him the world kind of began to treat me all weird again. Most of my co-workers at Starbucks won’t even talk to me anymore.”

            “Well, fuck them.” Waverly and Wynonna heard the bathroom door open upstairs and Waverly grabbed the two coffee cups. “Waverly.” Wynonna said before Waverly moved to run out of the kitchen. “If anyone is giving you trouble you send them to me and I’ll take care of them, I’m serious.”

            “Thanks, Wynonna.” Waverly smiled and she meant it.

            The thing was Waverly had no doubts in her mind that Wynonna would absolutely get into a fist fight with anyone who gave her problems, but that she would throw herself in the way of whatever came at her. Wynonna would be leaving for wherever she wanted to go in less than a year and she wouldn’t always be there.

            As much as Wynonna annoyed Waverly sometimes, Waverly couldn’t deny that she cared about her sister deeply. There was apart of her that was worried that the wrath intended for her would be directed towards her older sister instead, and the last thing she wanted was her older sister to get drawn into the mess she had unintentionally created.

            She walked upstairs and pushed the door open to her bedroom and Nicole was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her hair wrapped in a town and a graphic tee shirt on. She wasn’t wearing pants and for a second Waverly was taken aback when she walked into the room.      

            “Oh my god, I’m sorry!” Waverly tried to backpedal out of the room but Nicole rushed off the bed and grabbed her just in time to stop her from falling over.

            “No worries.” Nicole smiled and walked back over to the bed and Waverly bit her lip as she tried to stop herself from staring at her girlfriend’s ass.

            _Not the time_ she reminded herself and followed the redhead over to the bed and sat down next to her, handing her the cup of coffee. It was well before six in the morning and Waverly had a long day at school and then a shift at work after that she couldn’t say she was looking forward to, but she decided the exhaustion she would be facing later was worth being able to have a little time alone with Nicole.

            “Is Wynonna awake?” Nicole asked as she took a sip of the coffee. “Thanks for the coffee, Waves.”

            “Regrettably.” Waverly rolled her eyes and Nicole raised her eyebrows, questioning her. “What? She was just being…annoying this morning.”

            “How annoying?”

            “ _Annoying_.”

            Nicole laughed. “I wouldn’t expect your sister to be anything else.”

            “Nicole, about last night…”

            “Waverly don’t worry, I’m serious.” Nicole wrapped her free arm around Waverly’s shoulders. “There’s no rush…to any of this.”

            Waverly smiled. “Well what I was going to say was that I like you and I like kissing you, but in all seriousness thank you.”

            Waverly wouldn’t have minded if every morning started like this, with Nicole’s arm wrapped around her and sitting on the bed with her. She wouldn’t have minded if they had decided to skip school either and just stay home that Monday, she didn’t want to face school yet anyways.

            She had yet to tell anyone, but she had gotten a couple of vaguely threatening texts from a blocked number. They mostly just seemed empty like ‘watch your back’ and ‘I see you’, but they were nonetheless worrying Waverly. It felt like she had to keep looking over her shoulder every time she left the house.

            She wasn’t quite sure if the hate directed towards her was because of Nicole or because she broke up with Champ. Breaking up with Champ in a sense was ruining her life because; at least in the social hierarchy of high school, she was no one. Being with Champ had granted her some sort of social immunity and excused her habits that were considered ‘unconventional’. Now that she wasn’t with him it was painfully clear how willing people were to take a stab at her.

            Last week some girl Waverly had almost never talked to named Veronica followed her around in the halls and into her next class, yelling at her and explaining how she had absolutely _ruined_ Champ’s life. It was like it never stopped.

            “Waves, we should start getting dressed.” Nicole whispered into Waverly’s ear and then pressed a light kiss to Waverly’s neck that made the brunette shudder.

            “One second.” Waverly set her coffee down and pressed her lips against Nicole’s, desperate to feel her again and taste the coffee on her lips. Nicole’s arm tightened against Waverly’s back as she began to kiss Waverly back and Waverly moved her arms up to wrap around the other girl’s neck and she just couldn’t even imagine forgetting the feeling that she felt when she kissed Nicole.

            Waverly’s mind was wandering and the kiss had turned into more an impromptu make out session and Waverly felt herself wondering what it would be like to take Nicole’s shirt off, take everything off (to hell with it) and she suddenly pulled back from the kiss, trying not to hyperventilate. _Damn it,_ she cursed herself mentally trying to refocus her brain.

            Nicole was smiling and when Waverly’s eyes met her she couldn’t help but smile with her.

            “It’s all going to be okay, Waves.” Nicole reassured her. “I promise.”

            “Okay.” Waverly hugged the other girl, burying her face in her shoulder. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets gay!  
> Nicole is the best study buddy!

            “Who was the queen of England in 1865?” Nicole asked frantically, playfully shaking Waverly’s shoulder.

            “Oh, oh!” Waverly was laughing and squeezing her eyes shut. “I know this one!”

            “Then _who_ was the queen of England in 1865?” Nicole asked.

            “It was…” Waverly held her fingers to her temples in concentration. “Queen Victoria!”

            “Ding ding ding!” Nicole said and they both laughed. Nicole leaned it and placed a quick kiss on her girlfriend’s lips and they both smiled.

            They were lying on Waverly’s bed and Nicole was reading off Waverly’s flash cards for her history test. She had been over since the end of the school day, with Waverly claiming that she needed someone to help her study. Nicole knew full well that Waverly was capable of studying on her own, but she agreed to come over and help.

            “You should kiss me again.” Waverly suggested softly, pressing her forehead against Nicole’s with her eyes closed.

            “Not until you get another question right.”

            “I’ve been getting questions right all afternoon.”

            “One more and we’re done?” Nicole suggested.

            “Okay, one more.”

            “What was the Monroe Doctrine?”

            “Okay, so President Monroe gave a speech to Congress and he said that the United States would no longer tolerate colonialism in the Western Hemisphere, so he was pretty much telling Europe to stay out of Central America and Canada.”

            “That’s…” Nicole drummed her hands against the blankets on Waverly’s bed in fake suspense. “Correct!”

            Waverly giggled again and leaned in to kiss Nicole. “This was a productive study session.” She said, cupping Nicole’s face in her hands. “Especially thanks to my extremely _encouraging_ study buddy.”

            “Study buddy?” Nicole waggled her eyebrows playfully.

            “Study partner?”

            “Ah yes, I’m half girlfriend half study buddy.”

            “You’re perfect.”

            Nicole laughed softly before closing the space between them and kissing Waverly again. Waverly kissed her back softly, appreciating the way the kiss lingered and the way Nicole’s hands lingered on her ribcage. Nicole had been over almost every night that week and they all ended the same way – a gentle make out session that Waverly had been considering taking a little farther since the first time they did it.

            In a moment of bravely Waverly pushed a little harder against Nicole’s lips and lightly nipped her bottom lip. Nicole groaned softly and Waverly felt heat rush straight between her legs. It had been happening more often, just the simplest touch from Nicole was setting her off completely.

            Nicole separated from Waverly. “Your door locked?” She whispered. “Wait,” She sat up suddenly alarmed. “I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just…”

            Waverly laughed. “I know you didn’t. Wynonna can just…”

            “Come in unannounced.”

            “Exactly.”

            Nicole settled down next to Waverly again and kissed her more deeply, taking Waverly by surprise. Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck as the redhead rolled on top of her. This was what Waverly had been craving again, the closeness with Nicole when they passionately kissed. It was like she couldn’t stop kissing her and Nicole didn’t seem like she was arguing with it.

            Waverly suddenly felt Nicole’s thigh between her own, pressing against an area already in need of attention and a quiet moan was ripped out of her throat at the contact.

            “You like that?” Nicole asked, moving her lips down the brunette’s jawline and to her neck.

            “Yes.” Waverly said in a strangled voice, her hand tangling in Nicole’s hair.

            She felt Nicole lightly nip at the exposed skin on her neck and she couldn’t help but gasp at the feeling. Her kisses progressed almost painfully slow down to her collarbone and at the edge of the tank top she was wearing.

            “Can I take this off?”

            Waverly could barely form coherent thoughts, but she found it in her somewhere to nod and let Nicole kiss down her body to the edge of her jeans and leave a hickey on her hip. Her hips jerked forward involuntarily and Nicole almost lazily made her way back up before kissing Waverly again and slipping her tongue between her lips.

            “You’re beautiful.” Nicole said.

            Waverly tugged on Nicole’s shirt and Nicole pulled it over her head as Waverly ran her hands over her curves.

            “So are you.”

            They kissed again and Nicole rocked against Waverly again. Waverly brought her leg up between Nicole’s and she heard Nicole’s groan catch in her throat as they began to slowly grind on each other.

            “Is this okay?” Nicole asked.

            “Yes, _God_ don’t stop Nicole.”

            “I won’t unless you ask me to.”

            “Fuck.”

            “You turn me on so fucking much, Waves.”

            “So do you, you have no idea what you do to me every time we kiss.”

            “I think I have an idea.”

            “I’m close, Nicole.” Waverly whispered and Nicole’s eyes fluttered shut as she bit her lip and rocked her hips again a little more forcefully as Waverly threw her head back and her back arched.

            Waverly orgasming beneath her was enough to send Nicole over the edge with her and the redhead rolled off of her, her chest heaving. She blindly reached for Waverly’s hand and gently laced their fingers together before rolling onto her side and looked at Waverly who had her eyes closed and a slight smile playing on her lips.

            “Waves? Are you okay?”

            “I’m better than okay. Are you okay?”

            Nicole giggled. “I’m okay, Waves.”

            Nicole moved closer to Waverly and wrapped her arms around her, pressing a gentle kiss behind her ear.

            “Will you stay here tonight?”

            “Why?”

            “For snuggles.”

            “I’ll stay.” Nicole paused. “Do you want to come over my house this Friday? We can have our own little date.”

            “That sounds like a good time.” Waverly said before detangling herself from Nicole’s arms. “I’m gonna shower, I’ll be back.”

            Nicole smiled shyly as Waverly pulled her tank top on inside out. “I’ll be here.” She responded playfully.

           

* * *

 

            “Someone’s chipper.” Wynonna noted as the three girls sat at the kitchen table the next morning. Nicole was holding Waverly’s hand again and Waverly was absently humming to herself.

            “Yeah?”

            “Since when did Thursdays become the good days of the week?”

            “I slept well.”

            “Yeah, I could tell.” Nicole said. “You snore.” She joked.

            “How would you know that, Nicole.” Wynonna asked.

            “She stayed over again last night.”

            “Mm hm.” Wynonna said, sipping her coffee.

            The car ride to school was awkwardly silent as Waverly parked the car and the three of them got out. Wynonna walked in without another word leaving Waverly and Nicole standing next to the car.

            “So about last night…” Nicole said, looking at the ground nervously.

            “It was good.” Waverly said and Nicole smiled with relief.

            “Are you okay coming over Friday? I’m not implying anything, I just want you to come over and hang out.”

            “Don’t worry about it.” Waverly glanced around the parking lot quickly before pressing a quick peck on Nicole’s lips.

            “So I’ll see you Friday night?”

            “Absolutely.”

            They walked in together and sat down in class. No matter how hard Waverly tried she couldn’t shake last night out of her head, the way Nicole looked without a shirt, everything really. She aced her history test, but nothing would clear her mind of the night before and the night to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see!

            Nicole lit a fire in her. It was hard to describe exactly how or why, but there with something with Nicole that inspired her and sparked an adventure inside of her the way Nicole did. It was hard not to look at her and instantly breathless and it was hard to be near her without wanting to hold her hand or her in general really.

            There was something about Nicole that thrilled Waverly absolutely senseless and there were days when she didn’t want to go back to school because it meant that all that would have to go away for eight hours of her life. Everywhere she walked there were whispers whether about her supposed relationship with Nicole or the new web of lies Champ had spun about her.

            It wasn’t like there weren’t whispers before all of this started anyways, but being with Champ had shielded her from them all for the most part. It was like he used to be her ‘get out of jail free’ card, but suddenly her was her jury, judge, and jailor.

            She was sitting through her first block class, her eyes averted from Nicole as she tried to concentrate. She knew if she took one look at her she’d start thinking about the possibilities that tomorrow night unlocked or she’d start thinking about the previous night’s adventures or they’d exchange not-so-subtle looks that tipped everyone in the room off to what they were thinking.

            She regretted nothing about any of the decisions she had made. She was happier without Champ anyways, she was happier and more secure with Nicole, and she could feel Nicole’s eyes burning into her and it made her heart beat faster and she wouldn’t give that feeling up for anything.

            She didn’t regret anything when she would sneak out of the classes that they had together and steal kisses in the hallway. She wanted to be able to hold her hand walking down the hallway and even though the entire school knew that they were together they both feared that if they were affectionate around other people, then it might not go over as well as they might’ve hoped.

            Nicole’s eyes were burning into her and she drummed her fingers against her notebook. Their teacher was talking, but it all sounded like white noise to Waverly and she bit her lip nervously and then glanced at Nicole next to her.

            She saw Nicole’s eyes flit away from hers quickly and she smiled as she looked at Nicole. Her lips were quirked into a smile as she looked at the board and she could just make out the silhouette of her face against the harsh fluorescent lighting. It was still almost impossible to believe that she was her girlfriend, that since the beginning of the year they had met and were together.

            Nicole began to look towards her so she focused her eyes back on her notes and began looking like she was busy writing something. She swore she heard a soft chuckle, like Nicole knew what she was up to, but she frantically scribbled anyways. Her hands were shaking as she formed the words her teacher was spilling out and writing them down haphazardly.

            _Make it look like you’re paying attention._ She heard Nicole softly laugh besides her and it was the final cue that whatever stalling she was doing was not working. Waverly wasn’t sure if anyone could tell what was happening between them at this moment – it was a subtle tug of war and a promise for tomorrow night. Waverly bit her lip nervously and jotted down a few more things before leaning back in her chair and casually giving fleeting glances towards Nicole.

            The bell ring and Waverly was jarred out of her own head as she walked out into the hallway with Nicole.

            “You looked a little distracted today.” Nicole teased as they walked out.

            “I wonder who’s fault _that is_.” She said, looking at Nicole in mock anger.

            “I know you’re not that mad at me.”

            Waverly shook her head. “I’m not.”

            “Are we still on for lunch today?”

            “Yeah.”

            They had agreed to eat lunch in Waverly’s car that day; Waverly had taken to avoiding Champ whenever she could and if that meant avoiding the school in between classes and during lunch, she could deal with it. There was a part of her that was nervous that someday he’d show up at Starbucks and follow her home, but he wasn’t smart enough for that. He’d just slowly torture her at school until she gave in. He wasn’t a real threat; at least she didn’t think so.

            “Waves.” Nicole said quietly, nudging her shoulder.

            “Yeah?”

            “So, uh…” She glanced behind her shoulder and then nervously shook her head. “I need to tell you something at lunch.”

            “Is everything okay?”

            “For now, just don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later.”

            “Okay.” Waverly nervously nodded her head and Nicole turned down a separate hallway and Waverly went to her respective class.

            She couldn’t hide the way her leg bounced nervously under the table. Nicole looked a little shaken up and there was a part of her wondering if Champ was harassing her too.

            After her class she all but ran out to her car and slid into the drivers seat. A few minutes later she saw Nicole walking towards her glancing around nervously. Nicole opened the passenger side of the door and sat down in the seat, her backpack on the floor at her feet.

            “What did you want to tell me earlier?” Waverly asked as she turned down the volume on the car’s radio.          

            “I think Champ’s following you.”

            “Really?” Waverly bit her lip; her suspicions were confirmed.

            “I can’t be sure, but it just seems off how he seems to be everywhere nowadays. I’m just worried that he’s going to do something I know he’s not particularly bright, but it’s still a worry.” She paused. “I’m sorry if this sounds stupid.”

            “No, no I was worried about this happening. I was afraid he might try and follow me home from work or something.”

            “I’m sorry he’s scaring you.” She shook his head. “Was he always this…possessive?”

            Waverly thought back for a moment to the early stages of her relationship with Champ and realized that he had always been like that. In subtle ways he couldn’t stand to think of her as an entirely different person from him.

            “Yeah.”

            “He’ll get bored with this all eventually.”

            “I hope so.”

            Waverly nervously played with her hair for a few moments and the pair sat in silence.

            “Waves, I’m not going to let anything happen to you because of that jackass.” Waverly looked at Nicole, her eyes wide as Nicole took her hands in her own. “I promise.”

            “Okay.” Waverly said hoarsely before nodding. Nicole leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

            They both heard the warning bell ring from the school. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

            “See you later.”

            They got out of the car and went their separate ways. Waverly didn’t see Nicole after school, she went straight home to try and get some of her work done and didn’t leave until five minutes before her shift at Starbucks started.

            The moment she got to Starbucks her co-workers were already whispering. It was unlikely that they’d actually talk to her, but it seemed like her presence caused a flurry of whispering. She was wondering what kind of lies Champ was feeding them now, but at the same time she also didn’t care. Whatever Champ was up to these days was most likely of no concern.

            Slowly people began checking out until Waverly was the last one and the store was empty. She began to close up; she was convinced Nicole wasn’t going to come tonight.

            It was odd; she liked Nicole showing up at the end of the day so they could chat as Waverly cleaned up. She knew she would see her tomorrow anyways, but she glanced at the door every few moments just to make sure Nicole wouldn’t turn up at the last minute.

            Suddenly she heard three gunshots and a shriek. Waverly dropped the towel she was holding and ran over to the door, only to find Nicole standing there wide eyed and with a long gash across her face.

            Waverly opened the door and she ran in. “Lock the door!” She said and Waverly locked it as they both backed away.

            Just as she was about to ask Nicole what was wrong, Champ ran up to the door brandishing his Dad’s gun. He was yelling unintelligibly as he waved the weapon around and Waverly felt paralyzed with fear.

            “Waverly, call the cops!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break!  
> Hope you like the chapter, get ready for the next one :)  
> Thanks for reading!

            Champ was raging in the backseat of one of the cop cars. The Starbucks was swarming with cops and they paced around, placing the bullet casings in little bags that looked like freezer bags, but were really for evidence. Waverly watched Nicole’s dad carefully pick up the gun Champ had used to try and shoot Nicole and he inspected it closely.

            It glowed harshly in the lights from the cop cars and the fluorescent Starbucks logo. The gun was an old gun; it was Champ’s dad’s gun, who was unfortunately Mr. Haught’s boss. Champ’s dad was talking to Nicole’s dad and Waverly attentively watched them both as the old Magnum glimmered with an evil air in Mr. Haught’s hand.

            “I’m not letting him off easy.” Mr. Haught said to Champ’s dad angrily. “This is at the very least attempted assault, but he was also carrying a handgun without a license, not to even mention that that boy is drunk and high off his ass.” He sighed angrily. “He could have seriously hurt either of those girls.”

            Champ’s dad shook his head. “We need to prosecute him. You’re right, we’re lucky those shots missed at all. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, I haven’t been home recently…and I just need to know what I missed.”

            Nicole’s dad shook his head. “I know why he’s this angry, but it’s not my place to tell you, that’s up to those two.”

            He gestured towards Nicole and Waverly who were sitting on the hood of one of the cop cars wrapped in a blanket. Nicole had her hand resting on the small of Waverly’s back as she rubbed gentle circles. Waverly was resting her head on Nicole’s shoulder.

            “Baby I’m so sorry.” Waverly whispered. “I never meant for this to happen.”

            “You didn’t do this, Waves.” Nicole promised gently. “This is all Champ’s fault.”

            They both looked at him raging in the back of the cop car. He was almost frothing at the mouth as he incoherently yelled and banged on the Plexiglas windows. Waverly thought he looked like a wild animal, and slowly she came to the realization that that was the only thing Champ could be trusted to be. She watched him seethe and yell at the two of them some more before looking away from him.

            Champ’s dad walked over to the two girls, with Nicole’s dad shortly behind him. They were both in uniform and it all felt like somehow they had been in the wrong at that moment.       

            “Can I ask you some questions?” Champ’s dad asked.

            “If it’s okay, can I wait for Gus to get here?” Waverly asked. “I don’t want to answer questions without another adult present.”

            He nodded. “Fair enough.” He awkwardly paused. “I’m very sorry for Champ…how long has been like this? This can’t be out of the blue.”

            “He’s been stalking us all week.” Nicole said.

            “I’ll wait for Gus to get here before asking anymore questions.” He apologized before striding over to the cop car where Champ was sitting. He then angrily rapped on the window, causing Champ to quiet down. “Quit it!” He yelled angrily.

            The station wagon that Gus drove skidded into the parking lot. It was parked hastily before Wynonna and Gus leapt out and sprinted across the lot to where the two girls were.

            “Waverly!” Gus yelled before she ran over and hugged Waverly. “What happened?”

            “Champ happened.” Waverly said. “He tried to shoot Nicole.”

            “That no good…” Wynonna rolled up her sleeves, but Gus put her hand on Wynonna’s chest.

            “Ms. McCready.” Champ’s dad interrupted. “We need to ask the girls a couple questions, but Waverly wanted to wait until you got there. Is it okay if we proceed?”

            “Of course, of course.” Gus paused. “Was anyone hurt?”

            “No, Ma’am.” Nicole’s dad said. “It’s very lucky that Champ was too drunk to aim.” He grumbled.

            “Do you have any idea why Champ could have tried to attack Nicole?” Champ’s dad asked, cutting off Mr. Haught.

            Nicole glanced at Waverly nervously.

            “I broke up with him a few weeks ago, and he hasn’t quite been the same since.”

            “Can you tell me any of the circumstances, I’m just trying to get a grasp on the situation.”

            “Well, I broke up with him after he cornered me at a party and got aggressive, which he didn’t take kindly. He’s come to school drunk or high multiple times since.”

            “Mm, and is there any reason he would target Nicole specifically?”

            Waverly fell silent and Nicole subtly nudged her a bit before looking at her nervously.

            “I…” Waverly trailed off. “I broke up with him and started dating Nicole.”

            Gus raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

            “Oh, well that explains a lot.” Mr. Haught said quietly.

            “Thank you.” He said. “I am very, very sorry. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

            Champ’s dad walked away to talk to some of the other officers on the scene and left the five of them to sit quietly for a few moments. Nicole carefully took Waverly’s hand in hers and gently squeezed as they all looked at each other awkwardly.

            “Wynonna did you know about this?” Gus asked finally. Wynonna shrugged noncommittally. “Well, I feel kind of stupid that I didn’t notice.”

            “To be fair, I didn’t notice either.” Mr. Haught said. “It does make a lot of sense…now that I think about it.”

            “Let me guess, you going out tomorrow is a date.” Gus said, sort of exasperated.

            “Yeah.” Waverly said quietly.

            Gus laughed. “Well, I missed that one.”

            The five of them laughed for a moment.

            “God, I’m sorry that Champ is being like this.” Wynonna said. “This can’t be the first time something like this has happened.”

            “He’s been stalking Waverly all week.” Nicole said. “I’ve been watching him, it’s like he’s obsessed or something.” She sighed. “What a creep.”

            “So Nicole when do you want to come over for dinner?” Gus asked. “I think I’d like to get to know you under more…pleasant circumstances.”

            Nicole and Waverly laughed. “I would love to come over and formally meet you.”

            They chatted and then slowly dissolved as the cops let them go home. Waverly felt a tightness in her chest slowly release as Gus chatted easily with Nicole and her dad. There was a part of her that wondered what she was so nervous about in the first place, she knew in her heart that Gus would’ve accepted it and not asked questions, but she had still been nervous.

            “I think we should all go home.” Wynonna yawned.

            “Agreed.” Mr. Haught said.

            “I need to go back inside and get my phone and my wallet.” Waverly ducked out of the blanket. “I’ll be right back.”

            Nicole jogged up to Waverly as she walked up the path to the Starbucks.       

            “Are you okay?” She asked as they walked into the Starbucks.

            “Are you?” Waverly asked, turning to look at Nicole.

            Nicole held both of Waverly’s hands gently. “We don’t have to go out tomorrow if you don’t want to.”

            “No, no I want to.” Waverly breathed quietly before gently kissing Nicole.

            “Good.” Nicole smiled against Waverly’s lips before kissing her again and letting Waverly gently back her against the counter.

            They separated and laughed gently before Nicole pulled her in for a hug. They stood like that for a minute before Waverly detangled herself from Nicole’s arms and quickly kissing the redhead’s lips again.

            “I am very, very sorry Nicole.” She said. “I still can’t believe…”

            “Shhh.” Nicole held her index finger to Waverly’s lips. “Waves, it’s okay now.”

            “Okay.” Waverly nodded.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.” Nicole promised before kissing Waverly’s forehead.

            “See you tomorrow.” Waverly smiled shyly before ducking behind the counter to collect her things and go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright!   
> The day after.

            The school was buzzing with what had happened and if anything Waverly had hopped it would shine light on how awful Champ was and really make everyone think twice about their actions. The problem was Waverly set her expectations too high for a small town in the middle of nowhere. Champ’s arrest had exacerbated the problem and the story had spiraled completely out of control.

            The current prevailing theory was that Champ had been framed. His drunkenness had been all but deleted from the story. The idea was Champ cam to the Starbucks just to talk to Waverly when _Nicole_ was the one who attacked him. She then spread fake bullet casings around and convinced Waverly to call the cops on poor innocent Champ.

            She walked into school and everyone broke out into hushed whispers as she passed. Nicole was nowhere in sight and Waverly had to restrain Wynonna a few times to stop her from getting into a fight with some smug sophomores.

            “It’s going to blow over, Wy.” She promised, nudging her and tearing her angry gaze away from a group of girls. “You can’t go out of your way to attack everyone you disagree with.”

            “Okay, but this is so much more.” She scowled. “They changed the entire story and where even is Nicole?” She asked.

            “She’s not here, I told her what was happening.”

            “This is bullshit.” Wynonna said angrily. “This is such bullshit. They don’t get to just turn whomever they want into a villain and whoever else into the saint. Champ was drunk and tried to kill someone and potentially you while you were at work. And now he just gets praised for it?”

            “Wy, please promise you won’t get into any fights.” Waverly pleaded as she waited outside of her classroom.

            Wynonna rolled her eyes and fixed the lopsided collar on her leather jacket. “I won’t, but only ‘cause you made me promise.”

            “Thanks.” Waverly said, suddenly hugging her older sister.

            Waverly felt Wynonna stiffen for a moment before relaxing and returning the hug.

            “Anything for you, Waves.”

            Waverly smiled weakly before watching Wynonna walk away. She took a deep breath and walked back into her English classroom.

            The room was as quiet as a graveyard when she walked in. She made her way to her seat and sat down at her desk. It felt like not a single person dared to talk as she rummaged through her bag for her books and then idly flipped through her phone.

            It felt empty without Nicole sitting next to her. Everything felt hollow without having the friendly face to look over to and smile at halfway through the class. She liked that, she liked that for the first time ever she could look over at someone and share a knowing smile before quickly looking away. It felt like she could communicate without words in quiet situations and she missed that. She missed Nicole.

            And god she still felt awful about what happened.

            Gus had talked to her last night once they came home. Mostly about Nicole, what she was like and how long she had been keeping it a secret. She was angrier about her not telling her about Champ’s constant harassment than anything else. Then she added that maybe she should consider not going to school to let things blow over, but Waverly was determined to have perfect attendance. Before Waverly went upstairs to shower and go to bed Gus reminded her that if she ever needed someone to talk to, she could always talk to her.

            She was so grateful for her support, grateful beyond words.

            It took everything for the guilt of Champ’s actions not to swallow Waverly as long as she let her thoughts wander away from her work.

            The class passed sluggishly and Waverly found herself glancing at the door, expecting Nicole to walk in any second with that amazing smile of hers, holding her papers and books haphazardly.

            The rest of the day passed just as sluggishly as that first class. She spent most of the day fending off unwanted questions from other people. She skillfully avoided her old friends and Champ’s current friends. If Nicole were here, she wouldn’t be walking through the hallways alone. She’d be walking next to Nicole and laughing and able to ignore the shitstorm that was happening at her school.

            Wynonna met up with her after school so she could drive her home and as she was walking towards the car, something looked off. She squinted and then realized that someone was about to take a baseball bat to the front windshield.

            “Hey!” Waverly yelled, dropping her backpack as Wynonna ran towards the perpetrator.

            “Get back here!” Wynonna said as the masked man with the bat dropped the back and started running. “This isn’t over!”

            Waverly picked up her bag and let Wynonna chase the masked man. There was no apparent damage done to the car, it looked like they had arrived just in time. Waverly walked around the car once, before noticing that there was sharpie scrawl on some of the empty space on the license plate. In angry black marker the word “Dyke” was written in all capitals. She sighed before unlocking her car and sitting down in the drivers seat.

            “Hey.” Wynonna huffed as she sat down in the passenger seat. “I couldn’t catch him.”

            Waverly shrugged. “It’s okay.”

            “Is there any damage done to the car?” Wynonna asked.

            “No, just some graffiti on the license plate.”

            “I’m sorry.” Wynonna said. “This sucks.”

            “It does suck. This just feels so unfair, he’s the one who threatened _me_ with a gun and somehow he’s the hero.”

            “They see what they want to see, and what they see is Champ’s girlfriend was seduced by some random new girl and he’s just a sad man-child, not some drunk bastard. Everyone here sucks, you’re destined for some much better than all of them.”

            “Thanks.”

            “I’m serious, and don’t let what any of the weirdos here ruin your night with Nicole tonight. Their opinion doesn’t matter.”

            “Thank you for supporting me through all of them.”

            “Waverly, I’d support you no matter what.” Wynonna promised, her hand resting on Waverly’s wrist.

            They went home and Waverly talked to Gus for a little bit before going upstairs to change. She settled on a simple sweater with jeans and looked herself once over in the mirror before shoving some pajamas, extra clothes, and a toothbrush into an overnight bag.

            She slipped quietly out the back door and to her car after Gus left for work again and drove over to Nicole’s house.

            She parked in her driveway and awkwardly rang the doorbell. They had been texting on and off all day, thankfully, and it had kept her sane. She heard muffled stumbling and then three separate locks undo on the front door before Nicole opened the door and smiled.

            “Do you want to come in?” Nicole asked with a horrible British accent.

            “I do want to come in.” Waverly smiled, answering with an equally horrible British accent.

            “Then, do come in.”

            They both laughed when Waverly stepped in and she felt a sense of relief wash over her. She hugged Nicole briefly, before separating from her.

            She hadn’t been in Nicole’s house before and she glanced around curiously. There was a front room with two couches and a television and a long hallway leading back to the kitchen. Hardwood floors ran throughout and she could see the stairwell going upstairs.

            “I missed you.” She said.

            “I missed you too.” Nicole said, quickly kissing her. “I heard school was awful.”

            “Who told you?”

            “Wynonna said it was rough.”

            “Can we not talk about it…for now at least?” Waverly asked.

            “Of course. I think we’ve all seen and heard enough of Champ for today.”

            “Agreed.” Waverly smiled and they kissed again, a little longer this time and Waverly felt herself smiling into the kiss.

            “I already ordered pizza, I couldn’t help myself.”

            “Do you want to bring that pizza out?”

            “Maybe I do.”

            There was a slightly flirty tone to their conversation as they flopped down on the couch with the box of pizza. Nicole turned on one of the movie channels and they started watching whatever was on as Waverly leaned on Nicole and they went through the whole box of pizza.

            “What do you want to watch next?” Nicole asked once the first movie ended.

            Waverly turned and looked at Nicole and it occurred to her in that moment how beautiful Nicole was. Her red hair was spilling down her shoulders, down to the old heather grey Toronto Police Department sweatshirt. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Nicole’s next and kissed her deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update this very soon...  
> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have just no excuse for how long it's been since an update. I'm sorry for how long it's been, my summer has just been so busy. Anyways here's the update and hopefully the next one will happen in a more timely manner.  
> Thank you for sticking with me.

            “Waverly.” Nicole’s voice is hoarse and Waverly slowly opened her eyes, for a moment forgetting the night prior to that morning. She smiled absently as the light from in between the curtains hit her face.

            “Hey, good morning.” Waverly whispered.

            “There’s someone knocking on the door.” Nicole squints and Waverly hears the insistent pounding on the door.

            Nicole slips out of the bed and skirts around the boxes in her room and Waverly can’t help but stare at her girlfriend’s flexing shoulder blades as she bends down to pick up a pair of flannel pajama pants and an old band tee shirt from the 80s.

            Nicole’s room.

            And her bed.

            The mattress that hadn’t been set on a frame yet, but had clean sheets and a comforter neatly tucked in to the end to hold it in place. Towers of cardboard moving boxes were shoved into corners out of the way of the bed and the area surrounding it.

            Her room was exactly as Waverly had expected it to be, in a sense. It felt like Nicole’s room in a way that was indescribable, except for the notion that Nicole most definitely lived here.

            Nicole wandered around the room, her bare feet making faint slapping sounds against the hard wood floors. Her red hair was a little frizzy and knotted and she picked a hairband off of one of the cardboard boxes and deftly braided her hair. Her long and slender fingers moved quickly and for a brief moment Waverly was mesmerized by their movement.

            “I’ll be right back.” Nicole promised as she reached for the handle of the door.

            “Okay baby.” Waverly smiled and Nicole smiled back before quickly bouncing back over to the bed and pressing a quick kiss to Waverly’s lips.

            “You okay?” Nicole gently cupped Waverly’s face.

            “Yeah, are you?”

            “Yeah.” She kissed her again before standing up. “I’ll be back baby.”

            Waverly watched her leave the room before falling back towards the mattress and pulling the blanket back up around herself. She vaguely wondered where her phone was and she glanced around on the floor to see if it was there. She saw it lying face down near her jeans and she leaned over the edge of the mattress until it was within reach of her fingertips and grabbed it.

            She rolled back over onto her back on the bed and turned her phone on and found that it was still early in the morning. They had probably only been asleep for a few hours at most. What time did they go to sleep again? God, she wasn’t sure. She had missed a couple texts from Gus and had fortunately missed one from Wynonna involving emojis that she was sure were not as innocent as they would seem at first glance.

            Gus wanted to make sure she was okay and she texted her back that she was fine, and hoped that the early hour wouldn’t give away anything that had happened. Although she knew that she couldn’t really go through lengths to hide it, because Waverly knew that she’d figure out anyways.

            On one hand she didn’t want to dignify Wynonna’s text by responding at all, but on the other hand she didn’t want to leave the message on read for her sister. She settled for sending her an emoji that was flipping her off, which could be determined either way. There was no good solution to Wynonna’s texts.

            It had been a late night.

            _Later._

            She pulled the blankets up farther out of some sort of fake self-consciousness and laughed. She closed her eyes and she laughed softly because this was _Nicole_ she was thinking about here and she made her absolutely crazy. Absolutely crazy and absolutely nervous that was, because her hands were shaking for the longest time last night, vibrating gently as she touched her skin.

            It was like this automatic response that she had to suddenly no longer thinking about it. It was really and it was tangible and Nicole’s skin was so damn soft under her fingers and it unnerved her a little bit. Only a little bit, but enough to cause the slight tremors for at least twenty minutes until she grounded herself.

            Nicole was just great…she was great at everything. She was a great kisser and god she made her feel so damn good and she didn’t regret one second of any of it because _holy shit._

            After Waverly had kissed Nicole the first time after the movie ended, the credits scrolled and the end music played until it was no longer a song playing and rather an orchestral accompaniment that played as the names of the assistants to the interns of the sub directors for the lighting on a very specific costume. She remembered one time when she was much younger she forced herself to sit through the credits just to see how many people went into the creation of a movie. Wynonna had laughed at her as she sat for twenty minutes, counting each name.

            Except this was different from when she was a child and patiently watched the scrolling names, this time she couldn’t have cared less about how many names were on the screen because Nicole’s lips were on hers and her girlfriend had her pinned to the floor and maybe it wasn’t the ideal location but she was addicted to Nicole’s lips and ever since she had come over after school she had wanted to kiss her again and maybe if the night before hadn’t been so hectic she would’ve liked to kiss her more.

            Here she was, kissing her girlfriend ( _girlfriend!_ ) and they were alone in her house with no chance of being disturbed and on one hand she would be happy to continuously kiss Nicole for the rest of the night, but on the other hand she wanted to take off her shirt again, catch a glimpse of Nicole’s toned biceps and her defined collarbone.

            Nicole’s hands were running up her sides, resting on her ribcage and her heart fluttered in her chest as she moved them back down and Nicole’s fingertips danced across the skin between her shirt and the waistband of her shorts.

            Waverly found herself gently tugging on the hem of Nicole’s sweatshirt and Nicole audibly gasped before breaking the kiss. She tried to follow Nicole’s lips but Nicole backed up a little.  

            “Waverly,” She whispered and their eyes met. “We don’t have to…” She struggled to find the right words. “I’m just letting you know…there’s no pressure…like at all.” She laughed nervously, punctuating the thought.

            “Nicole, I know.” Waverly said, she pressed her forehead to Nicole’s and they both smiled. “No pressure.” They both smiled wider and Nicole kissed Waverly again, and Waverly remembered wrapping her legs around her girlfriend’s waist and Nicole had carried her upstairs.

            And now she was here, carefully walking around the room and looking for Nicole’s sweatshirt. She slipped it on and the edge of the sweatshirt came down towards the middle of her thighs. She sat back down on the mattress and waited for Nicole to come back.

            It had been a good night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness gracious you guys are anxious...it's almost like crazy plot twists happen all the time!  
> Mum was the word because it just turns out to be a silly misunderstanding. Nothing bad happens.  
> Thanks for reading and thank you for the support!

            She was trying to listen for who was at the door as thoughts of Nicole lingered. Waverly hesitated in taking the sheets off of Nicole’s bed for a moment before she pulled them off and wrapped them in a sort of toga around herself before standing up and walking to the door. As she walked towards the door she heard rushed footsteps coming and she backed up and Nicole flew into the room like a bat out of hell.

            “Waverly!” She hissed quietly. “My dad’s home early, he locked himself out, and now he needs something from one of the boxes in the room.”

            “What do I do?” Waverly asked, scooping up her clothes from the floor.

            “Nicole!” They both turned at the sound of his voice and Nicole frantically pushed Waverly into the empty closet in her room.

            “Do not put me in the closet!”

            “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Nicole said as she carefully shut the door.

            After a few deep breathes Waverly set her clothes on the ground and pressed her ear to the door. Of all the things that could’ve happened the last thing she would’ve expected was Nicole’s father coming home early.

            “Hey Nic, what’ve you been up to?” Waverly heard Nicole’s dad say to her.

            “Oh, nothing much.” Waverly could hear how nervous Nicole was.

            “Order a pizza last night?” He asked and Waverly could hear him pacing.

            “Yeah, didn’t feel like cooking.””

            “You ate a whole large pizza?”

            “Uh huh…” Nicole laughed nervously. “What are you looking for?” She changed the subject quickly. She could tell Nicole was standing still, the only footsteps she could hear were the heavy bootsteps of her father.

            “Was Waverly here?”  
            “No,” Nicole laughed nervously and if Waverly weren’t so afraid of being caught, she would’ve face palmed. “Why do you ask?”

            “I mean…” He trailed off. “After last night…”

            “We’ve talked, Gus just wants her home.”

            “That’s good.” Waverly could imagine him nodding as he said it and he began to pace again.

            “How was work?” Nicole asked.

            “Same old. We’re still trying to figure out what to do with that idiot, Champ Hardy. Are you feeling any better?”

            “I mean I would be feeling great if some idiot hadn’t threatened me with a gun, but,” Nicole took a deep breath. “I’m okay.”

            “Good, good.” Waverly heard a clap and assumed he had put his hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “If you ever need to talk or anyone’s giving you a hard time again, you can tell me. You don’t have to keep secrets from me, Nic.”

            “I won’t.” Nicole promised. “Now what were you looking for?”

            “This old leather jacket of mine, I think I put it in one of your boxes by mistake.”

            “Or I borrowed it.”

            He laughed. “You might’ve.” Waverly heard his footsteps approach the closet and she sucked in a breath. “Do you think it might be in the closet?”

            “No!” Nicole said, panicked. “It’s definitely not in there, my closet’s empty.”

            “Will you let me know if you find it?” He asked and his footsteps receded and Waverly let out the breath she forgot she was holding.

            “Of course.” Nicole said. “If it’s alright I think I might go back to sleep now.”

            Her father chuckled. “Alright then.” Waverly could almost imagine the hat tip. “Hey, Nic?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Since when did you sleep without sheets?”

            Waverly silently cursed herself for taking them.

            “They were, uh, dirty.”

            “Alright, then.”

            “Bye, dad.”

            “Bye.”

            Waverly heard him walk out of the room and Nicole practically slam the door behind him before she waited a moment and opened the closet door.

            “I am so sorry!” Nicole whispered as Waverly stepped out with her clothes in her arms.

            “It’s okay!” Waverly replied, suppressing a laugh and letting her clothes fall to the ground.

            They both flopped down on the bed and Waverly cast the sheets over them and Waverly snuggled closer to Nicole. Nicole was warm and _alive_ and every time that took her by surprise because just the simple action of her breathing was so gentle and amazing and Waverly felt like just getting to rest her hand on her ribcage was so amazing. Nicole was amazing; every time she looked into her eyes she was more and more amazed.

            “Waves?” Nicole asked quietly.

            “Yeah baby?”

            “You know I’m not trying to hide you or anything from my dad…I’m not ashamed of you.”

            “I know you’re not Nicole, you just weren’t ready for him to walk in on me naked.”

            They both laughed. “Exactly.” Nicole paused. “Do you want to shower with me?” Nicole asked hesitantly. “You don’t have to, there’s no pressure or anything please don’t think…”

            “I’ll shower with you, Nicole.” Waverly said, smiling.

            Nicole laughed nervously, partially in relief. “Okay, but we have to be quiet.”

            “Your dad?”

            “My dad.”

            They laughed again and Waverly closed the gap between them, kissing Nicole deeply. She wished that she wasn’t wearing Nicole’s sweatshirt at that moment as she pressed closer to her girlfriend, her hands dancing under Nicole’s shirt and grazing the expanse of skin she found underneath the shirt.

            That was another thing that was ceaselessly amazing to Waverly – the way she craved contact with Nicole. She wanted her body pressed flushed to the other girl’s again and in part it was sexual, but also in part she craved the intimacy that occurred when her body slotted with Nicole’s and they were so impossibly close together.

            Waverly broke the kiss and Nicole sat up on the bed and Waverly moved to straddle her waist and press her forehead to the redhead’s endearingly before moving to gently kiss Nicole again. Nicole followed her lips faithfully and deepened the kiss, her tongue teasing at her lips.

            Waverly gasped and wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck and a low growl emanated from Nicole and Waverly felt a rush of heat to her core. She broke the kiss and latched her lips onto Nicole’s neck as Nicole gasped and arched into the touch. She could feel her pulse under her lips and she nipped gently and watched as Nicole bit her lip to keep quiet.

            “Waverly.” Nicole got out, mostly stammering and Waverly stopped and looked her in the eyes. “I don’t regret last night.”

            Nicole’s long fingers traced Waverly’s jaw and then danced over her lips, featherlight and Waverly’s eyes fluttered shut.

            “Neither do I.” Waverly answered.

            “Can I take this off?” Nicole asked, tugging gently at the sweatshirt.

            Waverly nodded and helped shimmy out of the shirt and it occurred to her that she was once again completely naked for Nicole.

            “Only if I can take yours off.” Waverly smiled and helped Nicole shed her shirt too.

            Nicole rolled Waverly onto her back and Waverly shamelessly found herself rocking her hips against Nicole’s thigh as lips teased her skin and it took all of her willpower to keep quiet. Her head traveled lower and lower until she was situated between Waverly’s legs and Waverly found herself with one hand in Nicole’s hair and one hand over her mouth.

            When she came, she came with a shudder and then collapsed on the mattress. Nicole smiled gently and Waverly moved back over towards her and they kissed again.

            “Guess we’re going to need that shower.” Waverly smiled.

            “Guess so.” They both laughed and Nicole stood up, offering her hand to Waverly.

            After nearly getting caught in the shower, Waverly was putting herself back together to go home. She didn’t want to leave. What she had with Nicole was special and she felt as if she left she would lose it, no matter how irrational it sounded.

            Nicole and Waverly crept down the stairs and Nicole opened the front door.

            “Nic!” Nicole’s dad yelled.

            “Yeah?”

            “Say bye to Waverly for me.”

            They both froze.

            “How did you know?” Nicole asked.

            “Her car was in the driveway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There be smut.  
> I'm so sorry for the wait! I've been incredibly busy, which is my excuse as always, but hey I'm always busy.  
> Thank you for the patience!

            “I want to travel the world with you, Waverly Earp.” Nicole said as she brushed some of Waverly’s hair out of the way to kiss her neck. Waverly couldn’t even remember what movie they had been watching that prompted her to say that, but she also couldn’t bring herself to care.

            “Travel sounds great.” Waverly breathed and leaned back against Nicole and Nicole wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. “You know, I’ve never left Purgatory.”

            “Never?”

            “Not permanently, I’ve taken road trips, but I’ve never left Canada.”

            “I think that we need to go to Europe.” Nicole kissed the skin behind Waverly’s ear and the brunette shuddered.

            “I’d love to see the ruins.” Waverly said. “And the castles. There’s so much history in Europe, Nicole.”

            Nicole intertwined their fingers together. “I’d want to see it all with you.”

            “I could teach you the art of European life.” Waverly closed her eyes slowly, taking a deep breath and imagining what it would be like to travel the European countryside with Nicole. “We could stop and stay in little French towns and wake up early to enjoy the sunrise and have a cup of coffee.”

            “I wish we could do that now instead of going to school.”

            “Everything is slower in Europe.” Waverly explained. “I want that, because here, you go to Starbucks and you want it done in two minutes. In Europe…you spend hours at a restaurant and you enjoy every second of it. It’s about slowing down and enjoying life.”

            “If I were to slow down time I’d want to spend every second of it with you.”

            “We could hold hands and walk around the major cities, too.” Waverly mused. “Stop in little bakeries and buy baguettes and eat them as we walk around.”

            “We could French kiss under the Eiffel tower.”  
            “We could do that now, too.”

            “No we can’t because Wynonna’s here.”

            The couple laughed and Nicole held Waverly a little tighter.

            “Wynonna won’t come downstairs.”

            “I don’t trust that.”

            Waverly shrugged free of Nicole’s arms and turned around so she was straddling Nicole and Nicole’s back was against the couch.

            “Maybe I do.” Waverly said and she watched Nicole audibly gasp and close her eyes and she bit her lip and the redhead’s arms came up and loosely draped themselves around Waverly’s waist.

            “This is _very_ tempting.” There was a stutter in Nicole’s voice as she looked up at Waverly (for a change).

            Their eyes met and Nicole’s green eyes were dark with wanting. “Can I kiss you?” Waverly asked and pressed her forehead to her girlfriend’s.

            “Yes.” Nicole’s voice comes out as a rasp.

            Waverly connects their lips and almost instantly Nicole’s hands come up to the base of her neck, tangling in the wisps of hair she finds there before moving upwards.

           Waverly locked her arms around Nicole’s neck as she felt Nicole’s tongue slip into her mouth. She bit back a moan and kissed the other girl harder, trying desperately not to get carried away. It really wasn’t worth the effort because they always seemed to get carried away, the way Nicole’s hips bucked up of their own accord and Waverly ground down to meet them.

            “We can’t do this here, Waves.” Nicole says.         

            “I know.” Waverly kissed Nicole’s neck and gently nipped at the skin she found there.

            “We could go out.” Nicole whispered and Waverly let her eyes slowly close.

            “Where would we go?” Waverly whispered in return, running her hands slowly down Nicole’s arms and kissing her neck.

            “Anywhere.” Nicole gasped, her fingers digging into Waverly’s arms. “I don’t care anywhere but here.”

            “You drive.” Waverly kissed Nicole’s neck again and watched the redhead bite her lip to stop from moaning.

            “Deal,” Nicole gasped. “But you have to get off me first.”

            Waverly climbed off of Nicole and Nicole scrambled to grab her bag with her keys and wallet.

            “Wynonna!” Waverly called as Nicole walked up behind her and slipped her arm around her waist, squeezing gently. “We’re going out! Don’t wait up!”

            There was no reply and the pair practically sprinted out the door and into Nicole’s pick up truck. Nicole started the ignition and didn’t even put her seatbelt one before throwing it in gear and backing out of the driveway.

            “Where are we going?” Waverly asked, watching Nicole’s face become more flushed as she drove.

            “Someplace quiet, out of sight.” Nicole said.

            “Okay.”

            Nicole drove the truck out of town and Waverly’s leg began to bounce impatiently as the lights faded into the distance and the drive became longer. Finally Nicole began to slow down and pulled off behind an old barn.

            “It’s empty.” Waverly asked.

            “Empty.” Nicole confirmed. “Do you want to get into the backseat?”

            “God, yes.”

            Waverly clambered over the center console of the car and Nicole followed her, slowly lifting Waverly’s shirt up as she followed her back. Waverly tugged at Nicole’s sweatshirt, throwing it on the floor with her shirt.

            Nicole kissed her, pinning her to the fabric seats, running her fingers up the plane of Waverly’s stomach and ghosting over her bra.

            “Don’t tease.” Waverly said, locking her arms around Nicole’s neck.

            “Okay.” Nicole kissed her collarbone and Waverly let her head fall back as she moaned and her free hand slipped under her bra and rolled her nipple between her calloused thumb and index finger.

            “What do you want?” Nicole whispered, slowly unbuttoning her jeans and pressing her forehead to Waverly’s.

            “You,” Waverly breathed. “I want you.”

            Nicole’s hand slipped under the waistband of Waverly’s unbuttoned jeans, skimming over her underwear and finding that the brunette was soaked.

            “Fuck, _Nicole_.” Waverly moaned, her left hand latching onto Nicole’s shoulder and the right gripping the backseat.

            “Do you want this?” Nicole asked, her fingers pushing her underwear to the side and feeling exactly how wet Waverly was for her.

            “Yes.” Their eyes met.

            Waverly was fairly sure that she would never get the picture of Nicole orgasming out of her mind, and to be fair she didn’t really want to. She had gone down on her, in the backseat of her truck, and the way Nicole just lost control, the way her hips bucked when she was close, Waverly didn’t want to forget that. She wanted to memorize every goddamn inch of her body.

            They were both naked in the back of the car, Waverly’s head on Nicole’s chest and their legs tangled together.

            “I don’t think I’m going to be able to feel my legs for the next couple days.” Waverly said, her mouth teasing the skin on Nicole’s neck.

            “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

            “It’s not.”

            They both laid there in silence for a few more minutes, appreciating the warmth of each other’s bodies.

            “We should probably go back to your house before people…get suspicious.”

            “We should, but I don’t want to.”

            “Neither do I.”

            Waverly looked up at Nicole, her eyes seeking out Nicole’s brown ones in the darkness.

            “Nicole?”

            “Hm?”

            “I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


End file.
